Library Chief Closing Her Murrieta Chapter, Takes Job in Escondido

Handcuffs could not keep Murrieta’s director of library services from leaving, although the city manager jokingly used a set in a last ditch effort.

When asked if he typically uses such drastic measures, City Manager Rick Dudley said: “Not unless I have to.”

“I have begged, pleaded, cajoled—everything I can think of,” Dudley said, during a farewell gathering held Thursday afternoon for Director of Library Services Loretta McKinney.

McKinney has taken a job in Escondido as the director of library and community services. Before coming to Murrieta in 2005, she worked as a deputy librarian for Escondido.

“This is a family,” McKinney said as she looked about the Murrieta Public Library’s Community Room. “And it is interesting because in going back to Escondido, everybody there is so welcoming...So you leave your family but you can always come back. Isn’t that what family is all about?”

Among those who came to see McKinney off were members of the Murrieta Public Library Foundation and the Friends of the Murrieta Library, two nonprofit organizations who generate financial support for the city library.

The organizations worked hand in hand with McKinney as the new library was being built at 8 Town Square. The 25,000-square-foot library opened in March 2007. Previously, the library was housed in a former bank building on Los Alamos Road just east of Interstate 215.

“She came into the project and it all came together and we opened the library,” said Juanita Blankenship, president of the Murrieta Public Library Foundation.

The Foundation presented her flowers and a thank-you gift, and the Friends gave her a framed certificate of appreciation.

“Even before our beautiful, new, state-of-the-art library opened...we were fortunate to get a state-of-the-art library director,” wrote the Friends on the certificate.

McKinney, who lives in San Marcos, said the decision to leave Murrieta was difficult to make.

“When I first started with the city, I was so impressed with the city staff,” McKinney said. “They have a deep commitment...They wanted to create a place for families so that families wanted to stay here and learn here and play here. It was always a pleasure to work here.”

McKinney explained that Escondido’s library director and community services director both retired in December, so she will be taking over both of their duties.

At the Murrieta Library, Principal Librarian Elise Malkowski will serve as interim director of library services until a permanent decision is made.

“She (Elise) has been a solid presence all along,” McKinney said, of her successor.

The two have worked together since the old building.

McKinney is credited with keeping library services intact during tough budget years, as well as bringing innovative technology to the facility such as an automatic bin sorter.

“She saw the need for the bin sorter and that has really increased our productivity," Malkowski said. "Her leadership and expertise I have always admired."

And after freeing McKinney from the handcuffs—amid laughs from the crowd—Dudley said he will miss his colleague. The two go back at least 23 years: when Dudley was working in Vista, McKinney was working for San Diego County and was overseeing a library project in Vista.

“We built a library together in Vista,” Dudley said. “When I got the job in Murrieta, I was very excited because there was someone here that I knew.”