I must correct an error in fact that appeared in the Jan. 20 Peachtree Citizen in John Munford’s article that mentioned the Peachtree City Library staff.
In the article, John attributed a paragraph to me that said: “For $15,000 a year, the city has all its books bar coded, prepared to be placed on the shelves and entered into the PINES computer network, the latter of which can only be done by a librarian with a master’s degree, which Peachtree city does not have, Gaddo said.” The statement related to services provided by the Flint River Regional Library System to the city.
This leaves the impression that the Peachtree City Library has no highly qualified, master’s degree-holding librarians, and that is absolutely not correct.
In fact, the Peachtree City Library has three full-time grade 5-B professional librarians, as defined by the state of Georgia. Grade 5-B certification is granted to a person who holds a master’s degree in the field of librarianship from a library school whose program is accredited by the American Library Association. In addition, certified librarians must complete 10 hours of continuing education credits every two years to renew their license.
Library Administrator Jill Prouty has a BA in English from the University of Nebraska and a master’s in library science from Clarion University of Pennsylvania. She has a total of 12 years combined experience in library services in both the private and public sector, including nine years in supervisory positions.
Youth Services Librarian Janice Dukes has a BA and MA in history from Valdosta State University and a master’s in library and information studies from Florida State University. She has 12 years of library experience including both academic and public libraries.
Reference Specialist Rebecca Watts has a BA in English from the University of Central Florida and a master’s in library and information studies from Florida State University. She has a total of 15 years experience in both law and public libraries.
In addition, the remaining full-time and part-time staff has decades of experience in public library service, including Library Manager M.T. Allen, with more than 25 years at the Peachtree City Library; Reference Supervisor Mary Haas, with more than 25 years in school and public libraries; Circulation Supervisor Lola Williams, a retired high school science teacher with more than 10 years library experience here; and newly hired Children’s Specialist Susan Tanner, with three years experience as the youth services assistant in the Clayton County Library System.
The Peachtree City Library staff takes extreme pride in their qualifications and customer service. This staff has just successfully completed a two-year cycle that required them to move out of the old library into a temporary location for a year, and then move back into the renovated library. Throughout this arduous process the staff didn’t skip a beat and customer service remained high even in the temp location that was in a converted gym.
I know John didn’t intentionally cast this negative light on the library staff, because I know he has a high regard for them. And I also note that it has been corrected in the online version of the article. However, it is important that this misinformation be corrected in print, and I hope you will give the correction the same front-page play as the original article.
Randy Gaddo
Director of Leisure Services
(Parks, Recreation and Library)
Peachtree City, Ga.