I am gravely concerned about the two vacancies of department heads at the Great Neck Library.
Library patrons deserve full service, which cannot possibly be provided under present conditions.
The head of the Reference Department, Leila Mattson, retired almost six months ago. To date, no effort to properly appoint a new head of this department at full salary has been made by the Board of Trustees. An interim acting head of department has been named but the Reference Department is less than fully staffed and denied their importance in the life of the Great Neck Library.
While large sums of money are being spent on lawyers and building projects, the trustees are shortchanging a key component of library life in an unsound attempt to save money. Our Library must have a fully staffed Reference Department with a properly appointed, fully salaried leader.
The head of the Programming/Publicity Department, Muriel Turk, retired two years ago. The Board of Trustees chose not to replace that department head. Instead, the library director has assumed that responsibility. How can the director be doing all this in addition to assuming her normal responsibilities and her need to deal with architects and lawyers? Furthermore, the board has transferred the responsibility of personnel from the Business Manager to the Library Director.
The Board of Trustees sets policy. Clearly, the board does not think it is important to have department heads. I urge them to reconsider promptly.
I encourage all Library patrons to communicate with the trustees and let them know how you feel about these vacancies. Unfortunately, the trustees do not have email addresses at the Library. Address your comments to the Library Director with a request to pass your letter on to the trustees.
Margery Binder
Great Neck
