Red Feather Lakes library needs to fill two positions

By JoAn Bjarko
North Forty News

The library director in Red Feather Lakes for the past five months has lost her job.

In an e-mail to the North Forty News, former director Sherry Mooers said she was fired on Feb. 10 without explanation or evaluation.

The library board of directors president, Judy Viola, responded in a telephone interview that Mooers was a probationary employee who was not offered a permanent contract.

"She wasn't fired," Viola said, adding that all library employees start with a 180-day probationary period.

The decision to look for a new library director came a short time after assistant librarian and children's program director Karen Deane submitted her resignation effective Feb. 28. The timing was coincidental, Viola said, but it means volunteers will have to keep the library open.

Mooers, chosen from 27 applicants, moved from Mississippi for the full-time director's position at the Red Feather Lakes Community Library. The annual salary is $38,500, Viola said. Mooers' probationary period ends March 8, and she will be paid through that date, Viola noted.

"It just wasn't working out," she said about Mooers' work. "She has a lot of good qualities and will be successful at another place."

Viola did not elaborate on Mooers' job performance, citing the board's right to discuss personnel matters in executive session, which is closed to the public.

That, however, has left the former director criticizing how the board manages the library and its employees. "As well as an affront to the basic ethical principles that guide society, this behavior breeches professional library standards," Mooers wrote.

A parent, who appreciated Mooers' new programs for teenagers and young women, has asked the Larimer County Commissioners to review the board's decision. The library is supported by a tax district and board members are appointed by the commissioners.

County manager Frank Lancaster said the commissioners could ask for more information about board policies, but they have no authority to take action. "Personnel actions are internal to the board," he said.

In her letter, Mooers outlined steps she took to save more than $10,000 in the library's 2010 budget. She also said she would save an additional $5,000 by taking on janitorial work after the cleaning service contractors decided to retire.

"I was saving money and improving services," Mooers wrote. "I believed the job was going well, and I felt I was proving that I would be a valuable employee."

Viola said the board has announced the job openings for library director and assistant librarian. In the interim, the library will keep the same programs, she said. Library hours and programs are posted at http://redfeather.colibraries.org.

Deane said she has been thinking about retiring from full-time work for a couple of years. She has been with the Red Feather library for more than eight years, and she might look for a part-time job in Fort Collins.

Deane is also an artist. "My goal is to give myself some freedom to be creative," she said