A friend recently contacted me with news that there is a disagreement brewing between the Friends of the Santa Maria Public Library and the city librarian, Mary Housel, about the city’s requirement for a lease for use of the Library Shop in the Library (“Library Shop to close after tiff with Library,” July 5). The subsequent decision of the Friends too close the Library Shop along with their decision not to sign a memorandum of understanding with the city, outlining the mutual roles of the city and the Friends, seem to be making many people very unhappy and has spread into a very public airing of this long simmering situation.
I recently moved from Santa Maria after residing there for 43 years. I was fortunate to be a trustee of the library for several years before I moved. I have a great love for libraries and especially this one, and have many friends who are now embroiled in this situation. I am writing to offer my support for the city librarian. I know how dedicated she is and that she has a wonderful, forward-thinking vision for bringing new and exciting projects to the citizens of Santa Maria. That being said, I also have a deep respect for the years of work by the volunteers of the Friends group. I worked with them on projects and know they all love the library and its mission to educate and inform all citizens.
I feel that in the emotions of this recent situation, some of the Friends are making things personal. They are forgetting the librarian has specific rules and regulations that she has to follow as a public employee, and that the Friends group, as a nonprofit, also has some rules they have to abide by. I am hoping that cooler heads will prevail and they will sit down and leave rhetoric outside the room and find common ground to solve this problem.
This article appears in Jul 26 – Aug 2, 2018.
