Orlando Library Accused of
Replacing Professionals with Clerks
Librarians at the Orange County Library System in Orlando, Florida, have accused new Library Director Mary Anne Hodel of replacing professional staff with clerks. Hodel, who assumed the directorship in January, told the August 15 Orlando Sentinel that the changing staffing patterns result from a growing emphasis on technology. “It doesn’t take a librarian to show someone how to use the Internet. What matters is service—whoever provides it.”
But Van Church, chapter chair of Service Employees International Union Local 1220, claimed the changes have left the library understaffed. “If the most experienced librarian left tomorrow, [administration] wouldn’t care,” he told the Sentinel. “They want to run this library as cheaply as possible.” The newspaper quoted a patron who encountered staffing shortages and cited clerks who said they were performing nonclerical duties. “More and more, the clerks are doing every task. Anything from shelving to reference work,” said one, who asked not to be named for fear of punishment.
In August 1999 the system employed 73 nonsupervisory librarians, the Sentinel reported; the current figure is 64. Clerks and support staff have increased from 203 to 214 in the same period.
Posted August 26, 2002.
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