In a memo to her staff, the Commissioner took the high road (as usual), saying that she told Mayor Emanuel in November about her plans to leave and asked him to keep that decision private while he searched for a replacement. She also had kind words for Emanuel, despite his whacking of the Library budget (which is responsible for 3% of said budget). She is the first woman to chair the DePaul University Board of Trustees. She plans to spend more time working in that position. She and her husband gave a seven figure endowment (otherwise undisclosed) to the Mary Dempsey and Philip Corboy Endowed Scholarship.
Dempsey says that if it had not been for the financial support she received while attending law school she may never have successfully concluded her studies to be an attorney. Through this scholarship, Dempsey and her husband will assist law students who also may find themselves in need of a financial boost to pursue a career in law. (citing a DePaul University Public Relations memo.)
Xanthe's editorial comment: Oh my, what a non-neoliberal idea - to actually mention that she received financial help and wants to give back without thanking the usual corporation.
All of this comes during a rancorous period between the Library Union and Rahm after he laid off 172 union employees to save more than $3 million. (As I mentioned in my earlier dairy, most of these positions are low-level positions so the $3 million figure is interesting.) The staff cuts required the branches be open eight fewer hours per week. Due to public pressure, Aldermen criticized the reduction and during a budget hearing Commissioner Dempsey confirmed the fears of their constituents:
So reduced access to books circulation will drop, visitorship will drop, access to computers -- all of that will be impacted. (Ms. Dempsey said in October)
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The new Commissioner is a non-Chicagoan, Brian Bannon. He had been working as chief technology officer at the San Francisco Library. Prior to that he worked at the Seattle Library System and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Mayor Emanual says he wants Bannon to help schoolchildren to keep from falling behind during the summer months when they're not in school. Xanthe's comment: Who doesn't Mayor Emanuel - certainly Ms. Dempsey feels the same way.
Emanuel stated the alternative plan put forward was to close library branches. Commissioner Dempsey said she never suggested closing branches. Xanthe's editorializing: If the Commissioner said she never suggested closing branches - then she never suggested closing branches period. Perhaps the mayor was misquoted or some such thing....
Mr. Bannon stated that he plans to launch a summer program that will enable students to interact with one another during summer reading programs -- I am assuming he means some kind of computer-generated hook-ups, as his discipline is technology. Even though he has no Chicago background - that does not mean he won't be successful - I wish him well.
However, Rahm gave a backhand to Ms. Dempsey when he said the crucial issue now facing libraries is not their hours, but their very mission. (oh those damn unions and their nonmission mentality.)
The debate is, what will libraries - our neighborhood branch libraries - be like in this information age. And we need to define that next mission, with the next chapter, and adapt to changes in the world around them. I mean just in the last year Borders had closed. Amazon has become your neighborhood bookstore. And we have to figure out how our libraries and our branch libraries - which are so important to neighborhoods, are going to adapt, and change, and prosper in this information age.
Oh put a sock in it Emanuel. One would think the Library under Commissioner Dempsey was run with a quill pen and ink - or perhaps a stone and chisel. Every Chicagoan who has a functioning mentality understands that we must change continually (though not all "change" is useful) - be adept and nimble in the "information age." And who is he having the "debate" with - oh wait - the nonmission librarians probably.
And do we see a "partnership" with Amazon in the future? Just a thought. We have to think of the future - after all.
This is pure neoliberalism - let's dismantle what we have and look forward. Huzzah. As you know from my prior diary - he is a privatization man.
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Commissioner Dempsey gave the libraries back to the people of Chicago. And in better shape than they ever were. She is a smart, tough woman with grace and intellect. She came from the neighborhoods of Chicago, knows the city, the politics of the city - and remained as much as possible above those politics. As the face of City of Chicago - she did us proud. Thank you, Mary! Bless you and your future endeavors. |
