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Boston Board Ousts Director Bernard MargolisThe Boston Public Library board of trustees voted 7–2 at a heated November 13 meeting not to renew 10-year BPL President Bernard Margolis’s contract when it expires June 30, 2008. Supporters packed rows of chairs in the small meeting room at the Dorchester branch, many defending Margolis’s record and calling his removal a political “power play” by Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino. News of the coming ouster broke November 4, when the Boston Globe obtained a copy of the board’s meeting agenda. Margolis told American Libraries, however, that he had been told in May by Menino’s chief of staff that his contract would not be renewed. “While he did a great job restoring the main branch in Copley, I believe the board is looking to expand their search for a new director, someone who would be interested in looking more at the branches,” Menino's spokeswoman, Dot Joyce, said in the November 4 Globe. “That’s no slight at Bernie, because he did a great job. But with his contract up, it’s the right time for someone new to come into the library and have a fresh approach.” Joyce said a national search would be launched to find his replacement by the time Margolis’s contract expires. Margolis called the grounds for his dismissal “the Big Lie—say it loud enough and often enough and people will believe it.” He said, “The city hall staff has said the reason for the nonrenewal of my contract is based on my not paying enough attention to the branches,” he said. “The facts do not bear that out in any manner, shape, or form. Resources, services, and hours have increased, and while we have had a 120-staff reduction, only four of those positions were cut from branches. But the funding increase from the city has been only one quarter of 1%. You can’t do very much with that support level.” Contentiousness between the library director and the mayor dates back almost to the beginning of Margolis’s tenure in 1997, when the two men clashed over internet policies. Menino wanted filtering software installed on library computers, while Margolis defended open access. Ultimately, they reached a compromise and filters were installed in children’s areas and parental consent forms were implemented. At $167,000, the position is one of the highest-paid of any city employee, according to the newspaper. “I do have a fear that I might be replaced by someone who’s not a librarian and I want to do everything I can to thwart that,” Margolis said. “Libraries should be run by librarians.” He added, “I’m weighing all my options, in terms of future job prospects. This is hardball politics being played, and it’s nothing for anyone to be surprised about. This is how politics works, and libraries are not immune from this game.” Defending his record, Margolis said, “There has never been in this discussion any question about my dedication or my competence.” Since he took over, annual circulation increased from 2.2 million items to 2.8 million, and he has overseen the creation of local history centers in eight branches. “But nothing I’m dealing with now did I learn about in library school,” he added, saying he “would like to send a message to educators about how do we educate students about the realities of political institutions.” Margolis told AL that between now and next June, “I really want to use my situation to create an opportunity for a thoughtful community discussion about what libraries can and need to be in the future.” As director of the first public lending library in America, said Margolis, “if I have any job left to do, it is to make sure we have the most robust community discussion about the importance of libraries that we can possibly have. This is not a time to be shy or timid.” To that end, he gave a two-hour interview to the Globe after the board meeting, breaking his silence and lashing out at the mayor, saying he had an “anti-intellectual” bent that threatens the library system with parochial politics and too little funding. He said Menino runs the city as if it were an authoritarian state. Margolis noted that he was “enormously grateful to the dozens and dozens of colleagues across the country who have phoned and sent me e-mails. To be described as a librarian’s librarian is an honor I never would have expected,” he said, referring to e-mail and blog postings that appeared after the story broke in the Globe. Posted November 14, 2007. |
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