What’s Happening at the Goodall Memorial Library

Photo: New Entrance to Goodall Library

Credit: Lawrence Furbish

By Lawrence Furbish

Change is often hard and sometimes it can be very challenging. It seems fair to say that is what is currently happening at the Goodall Memorial Library. Discussion had taken place for several years about the need for an expansion/renovation of the library. Finally in 2021 the library director at that time presented such plans to the City Council which were approved.

A three-million-dollar grant from the Federal Housing and Urban Development Agency (HUD) to pay for this upgrade was obtained. A temporary space at Shaw’s Plaza in South Sanford was rented for the restoration work to take place. Moving a whole library was a major challenge. While the move was taking place and before construction began, the library director resigned to take a new position elsewhere. Following a lengthy search, a new director was hired in February of this year.

In March, another challenge occurred when a leak in the roof of the rented space caused a lot of damage which required significant cleanup. Simultaneously, there were delays in receiving the federal grant money. The library used their own funds to keep construction going but ran out and work stopped in April. When the federal funds finally arrived, construction resumed in September. By then, cost increases had boosted the bottom line to four and a half million dollars.

In October the director resigned and this month the assistant director is leaving to take another position. A job posting for the library director position has not yet appeared. The Goodall Library Board is now considering an alternative administrative structure. One option would be to hire a business administrator rather than a librarian to run the library and leave the “library” decisions to existing staff. The library has a reference librarian, three library assistants and a cataloger, each with several years of experience. Several attempts to reach the board president for comments were unsuccessful.

Part of the issue with hiring a librarian as director is the ability to offer a competitive salary. For the last ten years, the library has received only one increase in its city appropriation…3% in 2017. It has stayed at that level since. The Maine State Library tracks statistical information for all 257 public libraries in the state. Looking at other comparably sized libraries, the amount of the city appropriation is significantly less than other towns and cities such as Gorham, Saco, Biddeford, and Augusta. The hourly wage for their director positions is also significantly higher.

Another challenge facing Goodall Memorial Library is governance by the Board of Directors. It has long had a term limits policy with membership limited to two three-year terms. This can be positive in that it brings in new members with fresh ideas and keeps the same individuals from serving on the board for so many years that they become entrenched. The downside is the loss of institutional memory and the difficulty in recruiting new members. The library currently has five board members, including a new president, but two are scheduled to leave soon due to term limits and only one new member is scheduled to join the board. The Board is actively soliciting individuals who would be interested in becoming new members.

The Goodall Library assistant director and the City Manager have denied a rumor that there is a discussion of the City of Sanford taking over operation of the library. The city and the Sanford Library Association have a rather unique relationship dating back to the 1930s. The history of Goodall Library and its predecessor may be discussed in a future article.