NEWBURYPORT — City councilors Connie Preston and Ben Harman on Friday introduced a resolution asking Mayor Sean Reardon to apologize to former Newburyport Public Library volunteers for the city’s treatment of them over the past two years.
The non-binding resolution, expected to be introduced during Tuesday’s (tonight’s) City Council meeting at City Hall, comes on the heels of an independent investigation that concluded the Reardon administration “unfairly dismissed and defamed” former library volunteers in public.
“In my opinion, the administration took a strong-arm approach to something that really didn’t need that,” Preston said. “That escalated into a (June, 2023) letter that, at the end of the day, was really inappropriately directed at and ultimately defamed the volunteers.”
Harman said he signed on to the resolution because it was important to give volunteers some closure after councilors voted to authorize the investigation.
“It felt like the responsible thing for us to do was to make some recommendations based on what the investigation found,” he said.
On June 7, 2023, Reardon suspended the library’s volunteer program amid allegations of volunteers performing union duties in the basement archives. That was also the same day former Head Librarian Sara Kelso resigned after less than a year on the job.
On June 13, 2023, library staff members wrote a letter posted on the library’s website and published by The Daily News, claiming that “a small contingent of citizens was able to carry on a prolonged campaign of bullying” against Kelso, ultimately forcing her to resign.
In January 2024, the city announced that former senior librarian and archivist Sharon Spieldenner had retired. Spieldenner was placed on approved paid administrative leave in late 2023.
Her departure led to volunteers, as well as their supporters the following April, to send a letter to the City Council, asking the board to look into what they said was a lack of transparency in the city’s human resources department.
In July, the council unanimously authorized spending $12,000 to hire Melissa Murray of Norwood-based Norris, Murray & Peloquin to conduct an investigation. It began in October. The council received a 20-page report, dated March 19, that was leaked last week to The Daily News.
It found that the volunteers had been unfairly dismissed and defamed in public, as well as in the newspaper.
At the center of the report was the librarians’ letter, that Preston said makes significant and serious allegations against ‘a small contingent of citizens’ that wasn’t supported by evidence.
Although he didn’t want to comment directly on the resolution, Reardon said in a written statement that he apologized for posting the complaints listed in the letter from library staff.
“The use of a city asset to air those grievances was inappropriate, and upon learning of its posting, I immediately had it removed,” he said.
The resolution recommends Reardon, former chief of staff Andrew Levine and human resources director Donna Drelick write a letter of apology to all affected volunteers as well as former archivists. The letter would then be published in the Daily News.
The librarians who signed the June, 2023 letter would also be asked to write a new letter, this time to apologize to the volunteers. The unnamed librarian who authored and coordinated the letter would be appropriately disciplined, according to the resolution.
“The volunteers and the former archivist certainly deserve an apology, both from the mayor and from the librarians,” Preston said. “They were called bullies. But the investigation showed that clearly this harassment and bullying had not really happening.”
Regular hours, according to the resolution, would also be restored in the archival center and a formal review of human resources policies regarding harassment reports, as well as recommended measures to prevent future errors would be made.
“This was really poorly managed,” Preston said. “So, we need to look at how we’re handling these types of things, to make sure we don’t do it again.”
Volunteers would also get to ask Reardon and Drelick about the termination of the volunteer program during an upcoming public meeting.
“They’ve been through a lot and they did nothing wrong,” Preston said. “So I think they deserve that.”
Although she admitted a non-binding resolution is unenforceable, Preston said she would like Reardon to make sure that nothing like this happens again.
“We’re not demanding anything,” she said. “This is suggestive, corrective actions for the administration and Sean has every right to ignore all of our suggestions. But these are certainly actions that I think the administration should have already taken. I also hope they will take them in the future.”
Reardon said in a text message Monday that City Council President Ed Cameron was in the process of setting up a meeting with Preston and Harman to discuss the matter with the city solicitor.
He also said in his written mayor’s report he was expected to deliver to the City Council Tuesday night that the situation at the library remains one of the most difficult challenges he has faced.
“At the time I said there would be no winners and that remains true two years later,” he said. “We still have former volunteers who feel they were treated unfairly and library staff who feel they were subjected to inappropriate behavior. Nothing in the report changes those deeply held feelings.”
Although she co-sponsored the resolution with Harman, Preston said she has heard from other councilors as well who might be willing to attach their names to it.
“I think you’ll see that happen in the future,” she said.
Preston also said she expects the resolution would be referred to the Community Services subcommittee consisting of herself, Harman and Ward 2 Councilor Jennie Donahue.
“Clearly, by our rules, the library falls under Community Services,” she said.
Staff writer Jim Sullivan covers Newburyport for The Daily News. He can be reached via email at jsullivan@newburyportnews.com or by phone at 978-961-3145. Follow him on Twitter @ndnsully.