SAINT LOUIS PUBLIC LIBRARY

 

Dear Mayor Jones:

 

Saint Louis Public Library has the potential to transform Saint Louis City, but proper focus is needed. What patrons want the most are: available meeting and conference rooms, office services, including fax machines, notaries, on-site instruction for computer programs, assistance with resumes and business development, early opening times, especially at Central, and jobs at the library- there are many people that want to work at SLPL. *

 

Much of the library’s business is opaque, and I think it is likely that the much-touted number of 93,000 library cards is inaccurate. However, even if it is twice that, that is still only two thirds of the city’s population, and many cardholders are from the counties.

 

Library cards should be automatic for every city resident, and services should be focused on residents. County residents and tourists do not need the free $5 monthly print credit. And all City residents, even those that owe for lost or damaged materials, should have computer privileges.

 

All full-time city jobs should belong to city residents, including the library. ** SLPL is funded solely on property taxes, in perpetuity and written into the City Charter. And the library receives payment on assessed values (meaning they get one half cent on the dollar of the total assessed value, $5 billion in 2019, even though the city collects less than a third of that).

 

The minimum wage for all library jobs should be $15 an hour, and the two most important and vital jobs at the library – the clerks and the janitors- need their pay scales increased. ***

 

All full-time city jobs should require retirement at age 65 and pay enough so that retirement is possible at that time. Older people have a lot to contribute, and this is not ageism, but a recognition that retirement is necessary so that government institutions and agencies remain invigorated and allow for “fresh blood.” Part-time, advisory, and volunteer opportunities can be made available.

 

And there needs to be stronger rules in place, about family members (by blood or marriage) working together. This creates factions, and unfair scheduling accommodations for commuting, among other things.

 

Especially among the highly paid managerial and executive positions, there are too many “lifers” that have become entrenched. Regular job audits should be conducted by every employee. Every single job at the library should have a “book of knowledge” or guidebook that explains exactly what that job does. No one should be “indispensable”, and no tasks should be left undone because no one else is trained to do the job.

 

Moreover, the Library does not need such highly paid executives. In a city where the median income is $65,000 for white people, and $33,000 for black people, to have three top executives, all earning over $125,000 (and the Director makes $185,000) is outrageous. And there are another 9 positions that are salaried over $80,000, which quite frankly, should be the very top salary level.

 

These highly paid executives are out of touch with the patrons, the public, and overly focused on producing marketing materials that do not address the real needs of library patrons and residents. The Foundation raises about $1.5 million, but at least $250k of that goes to salaries for the Foundation staff. (The salaries, I believe, come from the tax money. Again, why is this opaque?)

 

Managers can rotate the Director positions, and the outreach to communities should be done by the staff at the branches. And human resources, especially, needs to be restructured. The city of St Louis does not need a library Human resources executive that makes $99,000 a year with a staff of three people.

 

I also encourage you to replace every member of the Board and set term limits. They have served too long and become too comfortable with the executives and the major donors. Meetings are often cancelled, rarely posted publicly and the public is often discouraged from attending. The meetings serve little purpose other than the highly paid executives to quote circulation and gate count statistics. The library needs fresh eyes.

 

Branches need to be assessed, too. Several are redundant and costly. Charing Cross is in an area overserved. (University City library, Washington University, and SLPL’s Cabanne- one of the remaining Carnegie branches, and a building that requires frequent maintenance) are all within two miles of each other. Charing Cross only has one computer terminal and needs to either close for lunch or have an employee travel from another branch.

 

Central Express detracts from Central itself and requires coverage from another branch for lunches and staff.

 

Both Marketplace and Machacek need to be audited. It is likely that one is redundant, and Marketplace often needs coverage from another branch, like Charing Cross and Central Express.

 

Finally, I have written to you before about the need to recognize the service that SLPL, and all libraries, provides to homeless populations. Libraries provide the only public toilets and keep human waste off the streets. Libraries provide shelter, computer services, and a place for outreach workers to concentrate efforts. In addition to the NGO for transient populations that I have suggested before, the library needs at least one social worker on staff, particularly at Central.

 

I have made all these suggestions, and more, to the library itself, both as a (former) employee and a patron. I was fired, unsurprisingly. And as an employee, I was told in no uncertain terms by the manager that fired me that I would be banned from attending any Board meetings. I am not seeking revenge or a library job, but the continued irresponsible fiscal management is intolerable. I have waited almost three years to address these issues publicly, in hopes that the executives and managers would make real changes. They have not.

 

I am happy to assist with implementing any of these suggestions and can also present you with a full restructuring plan if you would like. But either way, I hope you will look to improving the services that SLPL provides to the city. It has great potential, and many good employees and managers.

 

Thank you for your time,

* African-American men, in particular, seem to be under-represented, but in my observation, apply in great numbers, and apply repeatedly. I’d like to see job application statistics on all city jobs- i.e., demographics of who applied, versus who is interviewed.

 

**I am not suggesting firing all non-residents en masse, but this rule should be put in effect immediately. And if every employee is required to audit their job, non-performers can be removed, and places made for city residents. And this can be combined with creating more jobs and job training at the library, especially part-time for students and underemployed residents.

 

*** One of the biggest fiascos I have witnessed was in 2018 when library executives decided to raise pay scales and hired a big consulting firm. The actual employees were not consulted. The consulting firm was horribly inefficient. At one point they assigned every job that had “Tech” in the title to market averages for IT salaries. People that worked as “techs”- a title given to employees that are advanced and useful but lack the required education level, usually a degree in Library sciences, and also the “techs” that performed actual repairs on damaged materials- were then notified that they would be receiving these salaries! It created a lot of crushed expectations, bad feelings, and reinforced the opinions that the executives were simply wasting taxpayer money and pretending they oversaw a large corporation, not a public library. The library had underpaid employees for many years, so it was a start, but it was very badly managed, and the wages assigned are still not fair or correct.