The director of the Berkeley Public Library (BPL) announced Monday that she will resign after a troubled year for Library officials and staff.
Heidi Dolamore, BPL’s director of library services, will officially step down from the post on Sep. 22, less than a year after she was appointed. An official reason for her departure had not been provided as of Tuesday.
A former assistant director at the San Jose Public Library, Dolamore became BPL’s director as a tense relationship between library staff and the general public came to light. Earlier this year, Berkeleyside reported that BPL staffers had been subjected to a workplace that was filled with “discomfort and distrust.”
In addition, two members of the Board of Library Trustees (BOLT) — former president Julie Holcomb and vice president Jim Novosel — were dismissed by Berkeley’s City Council in April, the first time the Council has utilized this power toward the largely-autonomous board.
The news came as a surprise to Andrea Mullarkey, a teen librarian at the Tarea Hall Pitman South Branch and shop steward for SEIU Local 1021.