Dozens of people turned out to the Gloucester County Library System Commission meeting at the Mullica Hill library on July 24 to protest what they said was the commission’s sudden transfer of library employee Jim O’Connor to the Logan Township branch.
“Jim is the employee that every library is hoping for,” said Jennifer Brenner, a former Mullica Hill library employee. “He came in as a volunteer, then a part-timer, up to full time, and is now working towards his MLS (master’s in Library and Information Science).
“Employees that invest that much time and energy in their placement are few and far between.”
Protesters alleged that O’Connor was transferred in June without cause to the Logan Township facility, also part of the library system, and without an official statement from the commission. They cited the major role he played in running the Mullica Hill library’s garden, among other duties.
A number of Mullica Hill library volunteers quit to protest O’Connor’s transfer, accusing the commission of “punishing a major asset” for no apparent reason.
“My heart was sick,” noted former garden volunteer Carol Sibley. “My first thoughts were, Who was going to take over for Jim? How will the garden go on without his quiet leadership? Not only that, but we had just finished planting over 400 native plants just a few weeks prior to start a native plant garden. We had great plans to use that garden to teach the community the benefits of planting garden.”
One protester at the commission meeting, Sofran McBride, showed photos of art pieces made by herself and volunteers of the library maker studio, work she said would not have been created without O’Connor’s support and guidance.
“He was an amazing force,” she insisted. “It was so helpful, and it created this beautiful community project that brought a lot of artists and non-artists together.”
Some of the people who came to the meeting to support of O’Connor sported red shirts, the color O’Connor himself wore to the session. He was accompanied by his mother Carol and sister Leah.
“The passion that you are hearing tonight from this group of people is not only inspiring, it’s a force,” Leah said of her brother’s supporters. “This may seem like a small group of people here in this room, but to have that kind of expertise, to lose it, to try and recruit that expertise is nearly impossible.
“And in my experience, volunteers only respond to kind and strong leadership.”
The commission did not decide whether it will reverse the transfer decision but indicated it will take feedback into consideration and provide what information it can at a later date.
