The plot thickens.
After telling her staff she would be working remotely, head librarian Bobbie Morgan hit the road a few weeks ago. As far as she was concerned, she had been given approval to do just that back in October by the board of trustees for the Pine Bluff/Jefferson County Library System.
But the trustees, with three new faces, and with something akin to marching orders from Mayor Shirley Washington and County Judge Gerald Robinson, voted again in December not to allow her to work remotely.
In one sense, that’s a significant mess. In another, it may not amount to anything because Morgan told The Commercial on Monday that she was coming back to work; well, she’s coming back in a couple of weeks, once she gets some personal matters taken care of.
The trustees apparently didn’t know or didn’t remember that they had unanimously agreed to let her work from home, wherever home is, at that October meeting until Morgan reminded all of them of that little detail in a letter she sent to the board saying as much. Those October minutes were a hot commodity on Monday afternoon, with trustee members calling the library asking to read them or listen to the audio. Not only did the October board agree to let her work remotely; it agreed to let her work that way for all of 2021.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
For his part, Tom Owens, the new president of the board of trustees, said Monday that he had been on a holiday vacation and hadn’t really had time to digest all that was involved. It’s hard not to feel a bit sorry for Owens as he was made president of the board at a December meeting, which was the very first one he had ever attended. Talk about a learning curve!
When asked about Morgan’s status, Owens said he would talk to the other board members and find out what they wanted to do.
Perhaps there is nothing for them to do. Even if Morgan doesn’t dig in her heels about the October vote to let her work remotely, she says she’ll be there in the building bright and early on Jan. 19. That’s what the board asked of her — well, that’s what the members asked of her at the December meeting but not at the October meeting (sorry; it is confusing), and she’s going to comply by coming back to work.
In the end, the board will continue to have a seasoned library manager for another two and a half months — even if she doesn’t really want to be there — until April 2, when she is definitely resigning and leaving for good.
At that October meeting, Morgan and some of the board members can be heard discussing the need to find an experienced replacement for Morgan and that it can be done, considering the pay, which is in the $70,000-plus range, and considering the fact that Pine Bluff and the county have a brand new flagship library and several redone branches.
Yes, despite the confusing situation the trustees find themselves in at the moment, the best option, it seems, is to keep Morgan working and use the time wisely to quickly find her replacement. That is especially important, now that the board is going back on its word to let her work remotely for a year and it won’t have that luxurious amount of time to do a search.