State librarian to retire
By Jennifer Hiller
Advertiser Education Writer
State Librarian Virginia Lowell will retire June 30 when her contract expires, closing the chapter on one of the Hawai'i State Library System's most trying times and bringing to an end a career that spanned nearly 40 years.
Lowell, who has overseen the state's 50 public libraries since 1998, asked the Board of Education this week to not renew her contract because she plans to move to Washington state to care for her ailing mother. Lowell has been on family leave since April 21.
LOWELL
State BOE members, who have stood by Lowell through a series of political storms and a parade of difficult budget cuts, said they were looking to renew her $113,000-a-year contract when they received word that she wanted to retire.
"We do owe her a debt of gratitude for what she's been able to do for us the last four years," board member Karen Knudsen said yesterday.
Jo Ann Schindler, director of the Hawai'i State Library, will become acting director after Lowell leaves and while the BOE conducts its search for a new state librarian.
Lowell was in Washington state yesterday, but will return to Hawai'i next week to finish out her contract.
Lowell was director of the 54-branch Nassau Library System in New York before coming to Hawai'i. She holds a master's degree from Western Reserve University and had also worked in library systems in Michigan and Ohio and at John Carrol University and Wittenberg College.
She filled the position left when the board fired Bart Kane, who drew criticism for a failed $11 million book-purchasing contract and a vote of no confidence by employees.
During Lowell's tenure, the system settled the legal battle with Mainland book wholesaler Baker & Taylor, and used the $75,000 settlement to buy best-sellers for its popular "Hot Picks" program.
Lowell also won kudos when she terminated a contract Kane had awarded to Ameritech Inc. on the grounds that it violated state procurement laws. The action freed the state to renegotiate a computer contract to bring patrons more up-to-date Internet service.
But last year Lowell refused to accept donated books to get the empty Kapolei library operating after lawmakers allocated only a fraction of the money she said she needed for the state's newest branch.
Lowell later changed her mind at the urging of board member Carol Gabbard, and a volunteer-operated reading room with donated books opened this spring.
More recently Lowell ordered libraries statewide to cut back to five-day, 40-hour weeks following a $500,000 budget cut to her department.
That prompted Gov. Linda Lingle to call Lowell "unprofessional" for failing to keep state libraries open longer hours, and some state senators called for the state librarian's resignation.
But Lowell had said it was either cut library hours or close libraries completely and lay off staff.
Despite the controversies, board member Shannon Ajifu said there was "no way" a majority of the board would have wanted Lowell to leave, even though several have noted that they've had differences with her.
Ajifu said that all of Lowell's performance evaluations had been positive.
"We were looking to help her in areas where she was a little weak," Gabbard said. "It's a big system and it's a difficult time."
Knudsen said Lowell was a strong and professional libraries advocate, even though she couldn't avoid clashes with lawmakers and the governor.
"I don't think she enjoyed playing politics," Knudsen said.
With the cost of library materials increasing about 11 percent per year, the state's library system has seen budget setbacks for years that have resulted in fewer books on the shelves and fewer employees on staff.
Since 1996, the number of books on Hawai'i library shelves has dropped from about 3.5 million to 3.2 million. Full-time positions have gone from 623 to 512. Hawai'i libraries were ranked in the bottom tier in 2002 — 35th best in the nation — by a national library rating system.
To cope in the future, Lowell has said the library system needed to think of different ways to reach patrons or bring in more revenue. She has encouraged the state to look at providing Internet kiosks in long-term-care facilities, prisons and shopping malls, which are cheaper than opening new branches.
She also thought the system should look into a debit-card system to charge for things such as computer printouts or telephone reference desk help. Fax machines are not available for the public, but could be a new source of revenue, she said.
Lowell has also led the way in establishing an online libraries database of full-text materials from magazines, journals, newspapers and other references.
Reach Jennifer Hiller at jhiller@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8084.
