At Monday night’s Board meeting, RCA officially selected Kathy Kaplan as the 2013 Citizen of the Year. Kathy was recognized for her tireless and dedicated efforts to stop the proposed library “Beta Plan” and protect Fairfax County’s libraries from cuts to funding, staff, and collections. Below is the is the text of Kathy’s nomination, submitted by Terry Maynard.
With great pleasure, honor,
and admiration, I nominate Kathy W. Kaplan for
RCA’s 2013 Reston Citizen of the Year for her exceptional work in stopping a Fairfax County Public
Library (FCPL) Strategic Plan to
undermine its libraries in
the
name of organizational efficiency. As one of two “guinea pigs” for this strategic plan, Reston Regional Library
was
ground zero for
this degradation. The key
features of the
ill- considered County library strategic plan
included:
and admiration, I nominate Kathy W. Kaplan for
RCA’s 2013 Reston Citizen of the Year for her exceptional work in stopping a Fairfax County Public
Library (FCPL) Strategic Plan to
undermine its libraries in
the
name of organizational efficiency. As one of two “guinea pigs” for this strategic plan, Reston Regional Library
was
ground zero for
this degradation. The key
features of the
ill- considered County library strategic plan
included:
- Reducing the County library budget by a third over the last six years;
- Culling books throughout the system, a quarter–million of which had already been
destroyed; - Drastically reducing the library
staff, including plans to reduce the Reston
staff by one-third; - De-professionalizing
library staff requirements by replacing certified librarians with “customer
service specialists” who
may
or
may not be
knowledgeable of library science; and - Eliminating
Youth Services—librarians and collections—throughout the library
system.
Without Kathy’s leadership, unswerving dedication, and
perseverance, the County’s libraries would
likely still be on
a downward spiral
with the Reston Regional Library as a “guinea pig” in that effort. Kathy’s extraordinary efforts were singularly consistent with Reston’s goal of providing a high
quality of life for people of all backgrounds and
was,
in fact, an inspiration
for an August 2013 RCA Board of Directors resolution calling on
the Board of Supervisors to abandon
its wrong-headed FCPL Plan.
perseverance, the County’s libraries would
likely still be on
a downward spiral
with the Reston Regional Library as a “guinea pig” in that effort. Kathy’s extraordinary efforts were singularly consistent with Reston’s goal of providing a high
quality of life for people of all backgrounds and
was,
in fact, an inspiration
for an August 2013 RCA Board of Directors resolution calling on
the Board of Supervisors to abandon
its wrong-headed FCPL Plan.
Among her activities beginning this
summer and
fall:
summer and
fall:
- She identified and began to work with County
librarians and other library friends
deeply concerned about
implementation of the County strategic plan; - She wrote letters and e–mails to
County officials, community organizations, and
media (including an interview with the Washington Post) noting the planned decimation of the libraries; - She encouraged residents to sign an online petition calling for
the County Library Trustees to stop
and re–evaluate the Strategic Plan before implementing the “beta plan” for Reston, a petition that
ultimately garnered more than 2,000 signatures; - She acquired and shared photographs of the books thrown in
a central library operations
dumpster that led Supervisor Patty Smyth
to
personally visit the site, bring back several current books in good condition, which
she showed to senior
library and County officials
whom she told
to stop destroying books - She conducted extensive research on
the
County library’s
plan and activities, including a review of eight years of County Library Trustee minutes - She acquired through FOIA requests at considerable personal expense important FCPL documents detailing
the destruction of more than a 400,000 books
in recent years - At the request of the Fairfax County Federation of Citizens Associations
(FCFCA), she drafted an FCFCA report on the FCPL Strategic Plan that
detailed the Strategic Plan and
its impacts; and - She met with senior County staff and
elected officials
several times to learn more about the strategic plan and to share the results of her research.
As a result of her efforts and the
efforts of those
she
worked with, the Library
Board of Trustees recommended and the County Board of Supervisors approved on
November 18, 2013, a resolution “to eliminate the process that
led to the trashing
of hundreds of thousands
of books and
also throw out a controversial plan to reduce the number of librarians and children’s services in
county branches.” The Trustees are to come to the Board
with
their further recommendations early
next year.
efforts of those
she
worked with, the Library
Board of Trustees recommended and the County Board of Supervisors approved on
November 18, 2013, a resolution “to eliminate the process that
led to the trashing
of hundreds of thousands
of books and
also throw out a controversial plan to reduce the number of librarians and children’s services in
county branches.” The Trustees are to come to the Board
with
their further recommendations early
next year.
Reston Regional Library
is the County’s busiest library with circulation exceeding one million items per year despite its small size
and outdated facilities.
It is a focal point for
community access not only to books
and magazines, but to online subscription services not
readily available
to residents. It
has a substantial children’s wing vital to exposing
small
children to the joys
and knowledge of reading. It also
emphasizes the needs of
new citizens and those with handicaps.