The hiring freeze on all management and top-level positions at Jacksonville (Fla.) Public Library is expected to last a couple of months while a review of the library budget is underway, according to Mayor John Peyton’s Chief of Special Initiatives and Communications Susan Wiles.
Wiles said the mayor, who campaigned for an increase in early literacy programs, is a library supporter despite his decision that came as a result of a study that questioned the library’s spending and hiring practices. “John Peyton believes deeply that a top-tier city must have a robust public library system,” she said in the January 25 Jacksonville Florida Times-Union.
Responding to the study’s recommendation that non-MLS candidates fill vacant librarian positions, Florida Library Association President John Szabo said that the number of MLS librarians at JPL is not unusual, adding that the degree-holders can’t be replaced with those who lack proper training.
“Librarians are experts at finding information and organizing information,” Szabo told the Times-Union. “Librarians are trained and skilled at finding online resources. They help patrons find that needle in the haystack on the Internet.”
Library Director Ken Sivulich said that, while it was difficult to fill librarian positions when he came to Jacksonville over six years ago, last year’s Better Jacksonville Plan—a city initiative to fund capital projects, including libraries—helped to spark renewed interest.
Posted January 30, 2004.