Library, School District Decide Not to Pursue Liaison

Greendale Public Library and school district have put a plan to hire a full time high school liaison on hold due to a lack of qualified applicants, the library board decided Wednesday during its regular meeting. 

The board gave its blessing, however, on a job description for a full-time clerk put forth by library director Gary Warren Niebuhr. Library and school officials have tried to fill this position with a liaison since a resignation last year.

"We were in discussions with the school district but it never worked," Niebuhr said. "We couldn't find a qualified candidate to fill the position. The school district wants to move on because the second semester has started."

Instead of hiring for a librarian position, which requires a masters degree, library officials decided to hire a clerk. The position will be paid between $13 and $15 per hour.

"This is going to be our bullpen person that will work all sides of the fence," Niebuhr told the board. "Wherever there is a vacancy, they will sub in."

Both Niebuhr and school district administrator William Hughes told the board the potential for a liaison or sharing the cost of a position is still a possibility in the future and that the school and library are still committed to working together.

"It doesn't mean that at some future date that we couldn't reconsider a person," library board member Marty Lubing said.

Hughes said, according to the Department of Public Instruction Web site database of personnel, there is a "huge surplus" of public school librarians. The advertisement for the position was posted for about six months.

"If a person comes from a school district into a public (library) system, they will have to work summers and they would have to work at public salaries, which are lower than school salaries. Those are the two main issues, I think, for anybody who's qualified," Lubing added.