Being a Public Library Director means…never having to say sorry

An article in the Indianapolis Star provides some insight on the recently canned Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library CEO Ed Szynaka.
“Nearly four months after its CEO was fired, the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library is at the center of accusations of influence-peddling and questions about how hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars were spent on lobbying contracts”

Well so much for the “run a library like a business” school of thought. And it had such promise….

An article in the Indianapolis Star provides some insight on the recently canned Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library CEO Ed Szynaka.
“Nearly four months after its CEO was fired, the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library is at the center of accusations of influence-peddling and questions about how hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars were spent on lobbying contracts”

Well so much for the “run a library like a business” school of thought. And it had such promise….

“Szynaka spent hundreds of thousands of dollars without the board’s OK.

“Szynaka hired a lobbyist to seek the removal of a Library Board member.

“The library has lobbying contracts with three law firms…to lobby state and local officials and for efforts to improve or repair Szynaka’s image”

Well, Mr. Syznaka’s image may need repair in the eyes of Indianapolis taxpayers, but I think I can safely speak for the library profession in saying that his role as an examplar of “Library Leadership” is undiminished by the recent foofaraw.

In support of my thesis, let’s take a look at other public library directors whose leadership styles have been harshly viewed by an ungrateful public unschooled in the subtleties of library management:
Dr. Maurice Wheeler was formerly director of the Detroit Public Library. When David Gates, the library’s business director, objected to DPL’s unorthodox financial management techniques, he was fired.
A subsequent audit substantiated Gates’ allegations. Among the findings of the audit were:

“The DPL internal controls for procurements and disbursements were unsatisfactory, resulting in excessive and questionable payments”

“The DPL cannot account for at least 59 personal computers purchased in the last three years.”

“The purchase of an automobile in the name of the former Director and the subsequent transfer of the automobile to the DPL around the time of the allegations with no documentation of the exchange except for an incomplete certificate of title raise questions of possible improprieties concerning the vehicle.”

Fortunately, Wheeler landed on his feet (or perhaps in another luxury car), and is now teaching at the University of North Texas School of Library and Information Sciences. Professor Wheeler’s “Research Areas” include “Management,” “Leadership,” and “Public libraries.” Although no publications in these areas are mentioned on the page, I suppose his DPL experience is sufficent to qualify him as an authority in these matters.

No mention of public library financial miscalculations would be complete if it failed to mention Atlanta-Fulton County PL’s lawsuit , a judge having reduced AFPL’s liability to the low, low price of 17 million dollars. Library Director Mary Kaye Hooker had previously been director of the El Paso Public Library, where she
developed a management style that enabled her to work closely with AFPL’s board in screwing up the library system.
Her status as a Library Leader is evident in the comments of an El Paso City Councilman wishing her well in her new job:

‘I’m happy she’s in Atlanta and not here, for the sake of our employees,’ said El Paso City Councilman Larry Medina, who led a council committee that investigated library workers’ complaints. ‘Hopefully, she will do a better job there than she did for us.’

The article goes on to quote Hooker, who displays an uncanny prescience in predicting the financial woes besetting many public libraries today:

“I think the nation will look to us as the leader for what a library of tomorrow is,’ Hooker said from her downtown Atlanta office on the main library’s sixth floor.”

Finally, going back a few years, there’s the sterling example of Hardy Franklin. Formerly Director of the Washington, D.C. Public Library, Franklin was also president of ALA. Pleading guilty to conflict of interest charges, Franklin’s sentence was five months of home detention and repayment of “$24,000 he received in double-billing both DCPL and the American Library Association during his 1993-1994 presidential year.” While in any other profession, such misbehavior might dim one’s prospects, not so in the library world.
Thus, in an August, 2002 Library Journal article subtitled “Confessions from a leadership training junkie,” C. Allen Nichols writes:

“Besides the direct advice, just being in the room with people I had read about, heard about at conferences, and learned about in library school was awe-inspiring.
Their presence and their belief that we were capable of being leaders encouraged us to take up the challenge. Hardy Franklin, a mentor and immediate past-president of the American Library Association (ALA), fueled my passion for teen library services and strongly encouraged me to become involved in ALA.”

From double-billing and plea-bargaining to teaching leadership skills-“awe-inspiring” indeed!
Recruitment of the corrupt, unprincipled library leaders of tomorrow is certainly a formidable challenge. But I for one have faith in the library profession’s ability to look the other way, and rise (or sink) to the challenge!