Evaluation committee members have said they have done everything right and are following the state laws that govern library trustees.
AMHERST - A group of former trustees of the Jones Library and others have filed a petition asking that current trustees seek state help to address concerns raised regarding the process by which Library Director Bonnie J. Isman has been evaluated.
In a letter presented to the board last week and scheduled to be discussed at a trustee meeting Friday, the group is asking that the trustees ask the state Board of Library Commissioners “to appoint a review committee of persons familiar with the governance and management of public libraries” to investigate the procedures used by the trustee evaluation committee when evaluating Isman.
The petitioners are also asking that the committee suggest ways to resolve the controversy between the evaluators and Isman and other members of the board and to appoint a review committee quickly.
In submitting the petition, former trustee Willis Bridegam said, “We have tried to be as neutral as possible. We’re trying to get clarity.”
Evaluation committee members have said they have done everything right and are following the state laws that govern library trustees.
Bridegam said though, “We need somebody unbiased to come in and take a good look,” at what has been done.
Three members of the six-member elected Board of Trustees comprise the evaluation committee, which has met dozens of times since January to evaluate Isman who has been at the library for about 30 years. Typically in the past, an evaluation was conducted with opportunities for staff to speak with the board and then concluded quickly.
Some staff members have been upset by the evaluation committee’s approach. Committee members wanted to talk to everyone who worked at the library and contacted employees at home. Committee members were sent a letter by the union lawyer telling them that employees could not be contacted at home, according to Tina Swift, who works in the library, but spoke as the steward for the Service Employees International Union Local 888, which represents library employees and others.
Others in town, including trustee Christopher Hoffman, have also been upset by the process and the way the committee has handled the evaluation.
The petition was signed by 18 including past trustees, members of the Friends of the Jones Library, residents, as well as John E. Ramsay, former regional administrator of the Western Massachusetts Regional Library System and Board of Library Commissioners.
The evaluation committee Friday is also expected to discuss goals for Isman created from the evaluation that will be recommended to the full board, said Board of Trustee president Patricia G. Holland in an e-mail. The evaluation, she said, cannot be made public. The meeting is slated to begin at 3:30 p.m. at the library.