Sacramento's Director Retires

While the Sacramento Public Library (SPL), CA, in August rejected a grand jury report bashing the library and suggesting the dismissal of Director Anne Marie Gold (see News, LJ 9/1/08, p. 15ff.), the director announced her retirement as of December 1, without reference to the turmoil.

“I'm proud of the team at the library and what everyone has accomplished,” Gold said of her seven-year tenure, according to a library press release. At a library board meeting, according to the Sacramento Bee, Gold declared, “I've long planned to retire when I reached 60, and that's around the corner for me.” While she acknowledged problems during her term, neither she nor board members mentioned the grand jury report.

In May, the 2007–08 Sacramento County Grand Jury cited several problems at SPL, including the hiring of a maintenance company that inflated invoices for more than three years, credit card abuses by managers, failure to collect millions in fines, and overuse of consultants.

The library press release noted that, under Gold's leadership, SPL, the California's fifth largest library, saw significant growth, including an increase in the number of branches from 24 to 26 and the remodeling and expansion of nine other facilities. The library experienced double-digit increases in circulation, visitors, and programs. In 2004, Gold helped lead the campaign that resulted in 72 percent of Sacramento voters approving the renewal of the City of Sacramento special tax, which funds library branches.

Still, the union representing about 285 SPL workers issued a statement saying “the time has come for new leadership,” according to the Bee, and the newspaper editorialized that board members “still owe the public answers” to questions about what went wrong.