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SALT LAKE CITY — Embattled director Beth Elder will continue to lead the Salt Lake City Library for at least the next year.
The Salt Lake City Library Board of Directors voted 7-1 Wednesday to endorse Elder's contract through April 2012. The announcement followed a nearly three-hour, closed-door meeting during which the board discussed the director's future at the library.
Elder's original three-year contract was set to expire on April 26. However, that contract called for the agreement to continue year to year, unless the board provided her with 90 days' notice of a pending change.
Beth has been making a concerted effort to reconcile differences (with employees) and ... the employees have also been working in concert with Beth to resolve whatever differences there might be.
–Hugh Gillilan, board pres.
The board essentially acknowledged the existing agreement with its decision, without stating support for Elder in the ongoing battle between the director and employees who have criticized her management style.
Board President Hugh Gillilan said he believes that support was implied. Elder's contract also notes the board's right to terminate her contract with or without cause.
"The board would not have voted that way if (it) did not feel supportive of Beth," Gillilan said.
Elder said she was "satisfied" with the board's decision.
"I'm looking forward to continuing our efforts to advance the Salt Lake City Public Library," she said in a prepared statement. "We have important work ahead, and I am energized about building on our many successes as we move forward to fulfill the potential of the library and preserve its role as the center of cultural life in this community."
Mark Alvarez was the lone member of the board to vote against endorsing Elder's continued employment at the library.
Elder's contract is set to automatically renew again in April 2012, unless the board revises the agreement. Gillilan said that's something the board will discuss in the coming months.
The city library system is moving forward with two new branches:
- Marmalade branch location
270 W. 500 North - Glendale branch location
Not yet determined
Elder took over as director of the library in April 2008, following a national search to replace longtime director Nancy Tessman, who retired.
At the time, the library board praised Elder as "the quintessential librarian" whose "vision and leadership" would "vault (the library) into the future."
But library employees have said Elder was not their choice, and the new director's relationship with the staff at times has been described as adversarial.
That schism was made wider in December, when Elder restructured library management and shuffled the roles of some employees.
The new strategic plan was introduced — and endorsed by the board — to help the library "serve the community better," Elder told the Deseret News in December.
Job descriptions were rewritten for the new leadership roles, and existing employees were placed in positions that best matched their skills and the library's needs, Elder said.
No employees were laid off as part of the reshuffling, though four chose to retire.
Overall, management positions were reduced from 31 to 27, though 18 managers continued in supervisory roles. Five employees opted to step down from management positions and continue at the library in different capacities.
"I think Beth has been making a concerted effort to reconcile differences (with employees)," Gillilan said, "and I feel like the employees have also been working in concert with Beth to resolve whatever differences there might be."
Despite the internal turmoil, the Salt Lake City Library has continued to thrive.
Under Elder's leadership, the library has bucked the national trend of economy-driven cutbacks and has continued to grow. Library officials report all-time highs of 3.9 million library visitors and 3.8 million materials circulated in the 2009 fiscal year. In 2010, roughly 35,000 new library cards were issued.
Email:jpage@ksl.com
(File photo: Beth Elder in Salt Lake City, Utah, June 25, 2008. Photo by Tom Smart)
