BRUCE C. BRIGELL

candidate for 2025 OAK PARK LIBRARY board

1. What motivates you to seek this office? What skills do you bring to the office? What sets you apart from other candidates? What does success look like for you after four years in the position?

I was primarily motivated to run for the Library Board by the way in which the termination of the Executive Director was handled last year. The abrupt manner in which the action was taken and the lack of due process was a lapse in judgement by the Board. As a long-time library professional I bring experience in public library management and finance. The furthering of Oak Park Public Library as a vital community resource during my term would make it a success.

2. What do you see as the three biggest challenges or opportunities facing the Library  and what role do you see the Board playing to address them over the next four years?

The three main issues I see facing the Library are:

  • Keeping pace with a rapidly changing informational environment: The Library must adapt to change to remain vital in the 21st century. This involves retaining its roll in teaching critical thinking and information literacy in an age of AI and deep fakes.

  • Maintaining and advancing the Library’s role as an important provider of educational, cultural and recreational enrichment for the Oak Park Community

  • Building partnerships with cultural, educational, business and governmental institutions to enhance and expand the Library’s impact on the community.

3. What is your decision making process? What are steps the Board can take to ensure transparency, clear communication, and community engagement to ensure the Board is hearing from the full range of the Library’s constituents?.

The decisions of the Library Board should be based on an evidence-based analysis of the facts of the topic in question. This analysis combined with consideration of the Library’s mission and priorities should guide the Board in the decision making process. Input should be solicited from Library staff and public input. Public input should be sought from both Library users and outreach to relevant community organizations not affiliated with the Library.

4. Please share your thoughts about the Library’s current financial picture.What’s your understanding of the Board role in the budgeting process and the allocation of resources? Do you have organizational finance experience?

Oak Park Public Library is in a fairly good financial position. About ¾ of the budget is for staffing. The Board’s role is to ensure that the budget is managed wisely and is in sync with the Library’s mission and priorities. With the rising cost of employee benefits and issues in the maintenance of Library facilities, the budget must have enough flexibility to accommodate unforeseen events. I have experience in managing library budgets and also handle financial planning for the condominium association where I reside.

5. What would you say to voters who are worried about Oak Park’s overall tax burden?

I empathize with the burden of high property tax rates on both homeowners and renters in Oak Park. The stress on those with fixed or limited income is significant. The Library accounts for only about 4% of the average property tax bill in Oak Park. With responsible stewardship of funds allocated I believe that village residents view the services provided by the Library as a good return on investment.

6. How do you define equity? Have recent discussions in the larger community and or at the national level informed or changed your thinking? 

Equity means the fair treatment of all segments of our society with special efforts made towards those underserved and vulnerable. The public library has traditionally served all who seek services equally without regard for economic means or social standing. Current political rhetoric disparaging DEI programs and initiatives is contrary to the core values of Oak Park and public libraries in general.

7. What do you see as the role of the Library in responding to the ever-changing ways in which people find and consume information? 

The library’s role has changed in relation to the provision of information to the public. In the past the library was a storehouse of reference materials to assist people in their search for information. Today people have an overwhelming array of information available to them via internet enabled devices. The library now must assist in the teaching of information literacy skills to enable people to evaluate the reliability of information gathered from internet searches. This challenge will only be exacerbated by advances in artificial intelligence with the capability to mimic reliable sources and manipulate images and video. 

8. In recent years, the Library has replaced security guards with social workers, increased salaries for its lower-waged workers, and eliminated late fees for borrowers. Please share your thoughts about these initiatives. Are there ways in which you would anticipate expanding or rolling back this work?  

I applaud these initiatives to make Oak Park Public Library a more welcoming and inclusive place. Having security with compassion promotes the Library as a place for all. Offering a living wage for all employees advances a secure workforce dedicated to public service. Eliminating unnecessary fees and fines keeps those with financial problems from being alienated from using the Library. I strongly support these policies and would be in favor of enacting other policies to break down barriers to Library services to all in the community.

9. What approach should the Library take towards intergovernmental cooperation initiatives such as the Collaboration for Early Childhood? Are there other specific initiatives that you would like to implement or expand upon? 

The Library should partner with area educational, cultural, governmental and business organizations to enhance its impact on the community. Collaboration with the Park District to provide passes to their facilities and events is another example of mutually beneficial programming. Cooperative programming with institutions like the Historical Society, Festival Theater, Council on Aging, Chamber of Commerce etc. should be actively solicited.

10. What approach should the Library take towards intermunicipal cooperation with neighboring communities? Are there specific initiatives that you would like to implement or expand upon?

Where feasible Oak Park Public Library [OPPL] should cooperate with other public libraries to enhance services. OPPL already shares access to material collections through its membership in SWAN Library Services, a consortium of over 100 Chicago-area libraries. OPPL is also a member of Illinois Libraries Present through which presentations by well known authors are available to member libraries online. The Library should continue to seek cooperative endeavors with other local libraries.

11. How do you see services and supports for homeless patrons fitting within the mission of the Library?

The Library should be a welcoming place for all, including the unhoused. Guidelines for sanitation, behavior and civility should be equally applied to all Library visitors. Staff security and social workers should be trained in how to apply policies equitably and assist those with problems in adhering to policies in getting help to resolve issues.

12. How should the Library handle the question around the removal of books, subscriptions, and materials from the shelves if community members deem the content to be inappropriate, too controversial or objectionable? 

Oak Park Public Library has robust Freedom to Read and Freedom to View policies in place. The Library and the Village also declared Oak Park a Book Sanctuary in 2023. These policies affirm that collections reflect a broad spectrum of viewpoints representative of all cultures and lifestyles in our community. Community members can register their objections to Library materials, displays or programs through the registering of a “Statement of Concern” on the website. These statements should be reviewed by staff to discern whether Library principles have been violated, however politically organized book banning campaigns motivated by the restriction of collections in contravention of library policies should be rejected.

13. Knowing that the Board cannot share certain information related to employment matters, what measures do you believe are needed to restore confidence in the Board and the executive level management in the wake of the controversy around the executive director last year? 

In their statement of March 16, 2024, at the meeting where the Executive Director was fired, the board said “this difficult decision was not based on any one incident or action. Rather, it was a consistent pattern, observed over many months, of a persistent lack of alignment between the priorities of the Board and the Executive Director that prompted this decision.” To me this indicates a lapse in effective communication between the parties. The Director did not have a performance evaluation during her 17-month tenure at the Library. Each month the Director and management team presented reports to the Board about their activities relating to Library goals and priorities. It would seem that if they were straying out of alignment with the Boards expectations this would have been addressed and rectified. To restore the trust the Board must be in regular and transparent communication with the Director to ensure that such a situation does not arise again.

14. The Library Board’s primary responsibility is oversight of the Executive Director. What criteria do you believe the Board should use to evaluate the performance of the Executive Director?

The most important metrics that should be involved in the evaluation of the Library’s Executive Director include:

  • Implementation of Board decisions and priorities

  • Budget development and management

  • Staff recruitment, development and management

  • Community involvement

15. Last November, Oak Park voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot initiative that proposed that voters be able to approve ordinances and policies through a direct vote. At this point, the vote on the ballot initiative was advisory or non-binding. The next step is for the Village or any other taxing body in Oak Park (as reported by the Wednesday Journal November 7, 2024) to decide whether or not to place the issue on the ballot as a binding referendum. Please share your views on this initiative. 

Although I believe in participatory democracy, I am somewhat wary of government by referendum. I have seen some poorly worded initiatives where it is unclear what a yea or nay vote really means. I am also concerned about well-funded special interests hiding nefarious intents in seemingly innocuous language, for example a referendum on “parents rights” as a smokescreen for the censorship of library materials. Rather than the chaos of referenda, I suggest that local elected officials solicit and entertain proposals for policies and ordinances from the public and consider them through hearings and open debate.

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