Valerie Marshall, who started as director of the Niles-Maine District Library last month, said experience managing challenging situations at other libraries has prepared her to take the reins of the Niles Library as it navigates out of a contentious era.
Marshall, most recently director of the Schiller Park Public Library, came to Illinois for that job after serving eight years in the often contentious Broward County Library system in Florida.
“I had to deal with staff disciplinary measures, including termination,” she said. “I managed up to three branches at the same time. It helped me learn to navigate a larger staff. During COVID, there were so many different challenges, including book challenges and mask mandates.”
Stepping into the director role at Niles-Maine, where the Library Board went through an intense two and a half years of political and legislative conflicts, is something Marshall says she is ready to take on due to her past experience.
“I’m a really good fit,” she said of her new job. “I have faced similar challenges that this library has faced. I have been able to meet those challenges in a positive manner. I think I can do that here.”
The Library Board voted unanimously to hire Marshall, and its members have been receptive to several ideas Marshall introduced since taking the position on Jan. 8.
At the board’s January meeting, trustees and Marshall reviewed the first chapter of the Illinois Library Association’s 104-page “Serving Our Public: Standards for Illinois Public Libraries.”
“We’re planning to do at least one chapter per meeting,” Marshall said. “The standards are what the state’s per capita library grants are based on. That is how we get state funding.”
In addition, the board and Marshall are considering reviewing parliamentary procedure by developing a better understanding of Robert’s Rules of Order, the rules by which its monthly meetings are conducted.
“It will help the board and myself to conduct better meetings and define the boundaries of my role as director and their role as trustees,” Marshall said. “This makes me believe we are going to be moving together in a positive direction.”
In 2021, voters in the library district elected four new trustees – Joe Makula, Caroline Drblik, Suzanne Schoenfelt and Olivia Hanusiak – who soon began various attempts to slash the library budget, including a hiring freeze, a reduction in cleaning of the library building (during the COVID period) and a deferral of building maintenance and roof repair. A portion of the roof leaked after that.
Then-director Susan Dove Lempke left not long after their election, and now leads the Lincolnwood Public Library.
The board named promoted Cyndi Rademacher, who had been assistant director, to director, and Rademacher served until she retired last year.
Lempke’s resignation was one of the first twists in what became a more than two-year saga of protests, budget cuts and revisions, shouting matches and deadlock at Niles-Maine District Library Board meetings.
Hanusiak resigned after a few months, often leaving the board with three members who wanted to slash costs and three who wanted to maintain services. That frequently caused a deadlock, leaving board members unable to agree on choosing a seventh member.
Employees formed a union in response to the hiring freeze, which lasted 19 months. During that time, many employees resigned, reducing the number of staff by about one-third, according to previous reporting.
Last fall, new trustees were elected, but Drblik and Schoenfeldt remain on the board.
New Board President Becky Keane received the Illinois Library Association’s Trustee of the Year Award, Marshall said.
“The changes in the board were reflective of supporting the library and the changes the community is pushing for,” she said of the most recent election.
The board restored the library district’s property tax levy back to the level of three years ago, Marshall said. “This is evidence the library is moving in the direction where I can help it along,” she said.
Marshall said she is eager to get to know the community. “I have a lot to learn,” she said. “I really like it here. I have a good staff.”
Marshall said she left Schiller Park, where the entire staff consisted of just 12 employees, for “bigger opportunities.”
“I have a skill set for this,” she said of Niles-Maine. “I am used to large-scale programs. I’m passionate about them. I have the opportunity to do large-scale programs and services here. I’m very excited about it.”