NLLA Apologizes to NLPL Employees

Following our recent expression of concern over the deprofessionalization of Librarianship at the administrative level, the NLLA executive would like to issue an apology to NLPL employees and to clarify that our concern lies with recent appointments at the upper-management and board levels only. The association recognizes the dedication and value of all workers who make our provincial public library system an indispensable one to the people of our province. We also realize that it is not possible or feasible to hire professional librarians at all of our public library locations, and recognize the outstanding work of all of our library workers, with or without an MLIS degree from an ALA-accredited program. Our ultimate concern surrounds the apparent decision to extend this process of hiring people with no library science background at the upper-levels. The NLLA executive committee wished to address issues with upper management positions and in the process inadvertently may have offended our invaluable library workers. That was not our intention.

UPDATE April 14, 2016: The NLLA has drafted a new letter to Mr. Brian Evans, Director of Information Management & Special Projects for the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, and to Mr. Calvin Taylor, Chair, Provincial Information and Library Resources Board, which summarizes our stance more clearly. We sincerely apologize for any offense caused by our initial letter.