The controversy took a new twist August 21 when Thomas L. Aud, who had served as the library’s executive director for 31 years and opposed the board’s proposal to outsource, wrote the board that he would take an early retirement effective October 31, stating that “recent events have placed me in an untenable position.”
Commissioner Aaron Ellison told the Sun that Aud’s decision showed that the time is right for a change, without privatizing. Library board members “now have the opportunity to put someone in his place that will provide the services that they want,” Ellison said.
The board has circulated a list of 10 goals for library improvement that includes adding wireless internet service and more computers, opening the library on Sunday afternoons, maintaining more current materials, and adding a coffee shop. The bid from LSSI included a proposal for opening a north-side branch that would include both a bookstore and a café.
Commissioners have until September 14 to file an appeal through the Tennessee appellate court and request an injunction to stop the board from outsourcing until the appeal is ruled upon. In the meantime, board Chairman Kathryn Swindle said she would postpone acting on any bid proposals. “Our goals are still valid goals,” she said in the August 23 Sun. “We still need improvements, and they will be made with present staff at this point.”
Posted August 25, 2006.