For years the Queens Library board of trustees has met dozens of times annually to oversee the operations of the library. They were appointed by mayors and borough presidents to see that the library provided the best service to residents of Queens.
One of their chief responsibilities was selection of a director who implemented and managed outstanding programs and services through qualified, creative staff.
In the last 45 years they hired 4 directors who reported to them countless times each year in meetings, reports and one-on-one conversations.
Now they are pilloried in the press for not firing the current director, who has done a phenomenal job but whose salary, some say, is TOO HIGH. What is too high?
I read that an outside firm was brought in to examine his salary and to compare it to other N.Y. nonprofits. If that survey was completed, what were the results? Could it be that many others in N.Y. had higher salaries? The press claims he had a second job.
That is a second job he has held for about 25 years. It certainly hasn’t had a negative effect on his performance. Sometimes a workaholic just can’t help it.
As to the shocking news that the director’s office was redecorated, it was last remodeled in 1992.
What is this Soviet-style ouster of the eight trustees really about? Does the borough president have a friend she thinks should be the director? If not, who does she think would even apply for a position with such micro-managing oversight?
This sad story has gone nationwide in the library press. Candidates won’t be lining up for such a tenuous position. The borough president has called the Queens Library a successful model in library service. Did she forget the adage, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
Constance B. Wingate
Garden City
