Library worker tells Alameda County board of staffing shortfalls, alleges safety lapses

Barbara Hamsey, who identified herself as “a librarian and a shop steward,” used her three minutes of public comment at the countyboardmeeting on Nov. 8 to press the board for an audit of library staffing and safety practices.

"I've worked at the library since November 2007," Hamsey said. She told the board that 168 part-time workers were unable to access full medical benefits or retirement and that extra hours created by understaffing were being given to temporary workers instead of regular staff. "I'm here to advocate for fairness," she said.

Hamsey described several facility problems at what she identified as the Fremont site and said management and a task force have not addressed them. "During the last 2 months at Fremont Maine, while we are without a manager on-site for evenings and Sundays, we have experienced a suspected ********* lying in wait and videotaping small children in the bathroom," she said. She also cited a section of ceiling falling during rain, breached doors due to faulty locks, and a county delivery van that was recently broken into.

Hamsey said the task force, which she said included Cynthia Baron, narrowed its focus to scheduling and that the administration"turned" a desire for proper staffing and safety "into a decimation of staff in order to save pennies while the administration squanders thousands of dollars." She asked the board to commission an audit and to clarify how city contributions (she cited Fremontgiving a quarter-million dollars) were being spent given cuts to librarian positions.

Transcript record: the board did not provide a response to the specific allegations during public comment. The remarks remained a public request for an audit and clarification; no formal action on library staffing or a public-safety investigation is recorded in the meeting minutes provided.

The board continued with its agenda after Hamsey's remarks.