Santa Cruz County Grand Jury • 2006-2007

Santa Cruz City-County Library System Follow-up Review

Published: June 24, 2007 8 pages
View Original PDF

Findings 9 findings

F1
Director of Libraries Job Review Process: In February of 2006, the JPA Board adopted an official procedure for appraising the performance of the director of libraries. A standard written job description, which is part of the City of Santa Cruz personnel system, has been established. It has been verified that the director of libraries’ performance evaluations are now current.
F2
Staff Rotation: Contrary to previous findings, the Grand Jury found that library staff are happy with rotation practices. The library has been practicing staff rotation for more than ten years. The Central Branch circulation and reference staff is rotated in and out of the headquarters facility on Pacific Avenue. They rotate in four-hour shifts based on established work schedules. Staff rotation is in place to: • Reduce injuries and stress illness. • Cover required workload hours on the reference desk. • Provide cross-training and job backup. • Offer job enrichment. • Improve staff morale. • Reduce staff turnover. • Reduce worker compensation claims. Larger branches practice staff rotation internally while some small branches do not have enough staff to rotate. There is ‘on call’ staff to fill in occasionally if required. Some employees feel that the staff rotation gives most library employees a chance to work directly with customers and understand the public’s needs.
F3
Alternatives to 1543 Pacific Avenue: The Director of Libraries is aware of the urgency for having a plan in place for this location. The city manager noted that they may extend the lease on Pacific Avenue until 2013 and that more financial analysis must be done. In 2006, the director appointed a Capital Projects Priorities Subcommittee. This committee is responsible for developing a long-range facilities plan.
F4
Funding Plans: A five-year budget plan, “Library Strategic Financial Plan” was prepared in 2006. It was developed with the following funding assumptions: • Sales tax revenues will increase 3% per year. • County Library Fund increased 7.5% in FY 2006-07 and will increase 5% each year thereafter. • Fees, fines and miscellaneous revenues will increase 1% per year. • Bequest appropriations will remain at the same level of funding. • The library will receive estimated carry over funds, grants, and gifts.
F5
Contingency Planning: In 2005, the JPA Board adopted a policy that keeping branches open was the “cornerstone” of the budget process and that closing branches should not be considered in contingency planning.
F6
Worker Safety: An outside consultant prepared a safety recommendations report for the JPA. The Director of Libraries was asked to come back with an action plan on the safety recommendations that were made. Upon review of this report entitled “Promoting Worker Safety at the Library — An Action Plan,” the JPA Board accepted it unanimously. In addition: • The library added a “Safe/Ergonomic Practices” section to the standard employee appraisal form to raise the safety awareness of the employees. • The library has a safety committee which issues an annual report and periodic updates. • According to management, training the staff in ergonomics has reduced the workers compensation claims. Most work-groups have someone in charge of stretch breaks where three or more people use the same circulation desk.
F7
Hiring Practices: The library does considerable hiring from outside the county library system for higher-level positions. This practice has caused morale problems and has increased costs to the system. Many of the current staff have attended college to get their Masters in Library Science with the sole purpose of advancing their careers but have not found it helpful in getting promoted. Other Hiring Practice Issues: • The practice of hiring half-time employees enables the library to stay open more hours to serve the public. It also has some cost-savings benefits. Many of the branches are understaffed, based on the number of customers they serve. However, hiring half-time employees also limits opportunities for full-time staff to be promoted. • The branches would like to have more frequent staff meetings, but find it hard to balance this need with the priority of keeping the library open for the public. • In April 2006, the library had a meeting for all staff system-wide. The focus of this meeting was on the Central Branch. As a result of the meeting, work groups were formed to address issues. In December 2006, a summary report was sent to all staff system-wide. The employees reported that there was not adequate follow-up in the areas of communication and the update of job classifications. Library employees sometimes stay with their jobs because they like the Santa Cruz community and wish to make a career and home here, not because they feel there are equitable hiring practices or opportunities for job advancement.
F8
Branch Findings: In at least one branch, emergency lock boxes were not easily accessible. Conclusions
F9
During an emergency, staff at one location could not easily access the lock box key or operate it.

Recommendations 9