Head of S.F.'s Library Resigns Under Pressure

[Marc Salomon]

from http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/chronicle/article.cgi?file=MN13227.DTL&directory=/chronicle/archive/1997/01/22

Head of S.F.'s Library Resigns Under Pressure
`Visionary' chief blamed for deficit 

Edward Epstein, Chronicle Staff Writer


Kenneth Dowlin, the man considered the father of San Francisco's busy new Main 
Library, resigned last night, brought down by a lingering budget crisis that 
raised the ire of Mayor Willie Brown. 

In addition to a new Main Library built through a public-private partnership, 
Dowlin's legacy to the city includes 26 rejuvenated branch libraries, a vast 
increase in book purchases and a vision of a library on the cutting edge of 
computer technology. 

But Dowlin's many critics say he sacrificed the library's basic mission in 
pursuit of his high-tech goal and badly mismanaged the system's finances, 
leaving behind a budget deficit that even two supplemental appropriations from 
the Board of Supervisors and an increasingly peeved Brown could not repair. 

The deficit now stands at $1.2 million, an amount Dowlin proposed correcting 
through staff cuts. Brown shot down that plan, vowing no layoffs or cuts in 
service to patrons. The mayor then hinted that Dowlin should resign. 

Steps for dealing with the shortfall now await results of a city audit of the 
library, due in mid- March. 

After nine years as city librarian, Dowlin told the Library Commission and a 
standing-room-only audience of a few hundred people, ``It is time for me to 
move along.'' 

``I am proud of what I accomplished here,'' he said. ``I took a dream of a 
handful of San Francisco citizens, shaped that dream into a vision, sold that 
vision to the community and built this place,'' the new Main Library. 

ACCOUNTING METHODS ASSAILED 

Dowlin made only one negative reference in his speech, a dig at what he says is 
the city's archaic method of handling the library's finances. 

``We went from a DC-3 to a 747, but we didn't have enough time to fully train 
the crew and we had to use the instruments of the DC-3,'' he said. He has 
contended that convoluted bookkeeping made it impossible, for instance, to know 
exactly how much money was in the library's book purchasing accounts or for 
him to track payroll costs. 

But Brown said he could not understand how the library, which has seen its 
budget more than double to $35 million in the last two years due to the 
largesse of city voters, could run a deficit that it could not correct. Others 
pointed out that even after Dowlin's nine years in charge, the system's budget 
was often murky. 

Dowlin's supporters and critics alike were pained to watch his plight since the 
opening of the new Main Library last April. That event should have been the 
capper of his three-decade career as a librarian. Instead, it marked the 
beginning of his downfall in San Francisco. 

While busy, the new Main Library left many people frustrated because they 
couldn't find books, couldn't figure out how to navigate Dowlin's pet project, 
the online card catalog, and had to stand in long lines to sign up for library 
cards or to check out materials. 

Library Commission meetings became nasty marathons as a small band of activists 
attacked Dowlin for culling books from the library's collection, doing away 
with the old card catalog and shrinking the staff. And always the budget mess 
and Dowlin's failure to get a handle on it came up. 

DOWLIN HAILED AS VISIONARY 

All seven commission members joined yesterday in praising Dowlin in public 
comments, with commission President Steve Coulter choking up in his initial 
attempt to salute his friend. In remarks later to reporters, Coulter said 
Dowlin paid the price for being far-sighted. 

``Visionary people often have a hard time making everything happen,'' he said. 

``I don't call Ken Dowlin a victim. . .He made so many changes, and you have to 
remember that it is difficult to always win on all fronts,'' Coulter added. 
``In the end, he became distracted by many issues and pushed back from people 
who were his supporters.'' 

Also among those who spoke was former Mayor Art Agnos, who joined with Dowlin 
in winning voter approval in 1988 for the new Main Library bond issue, one of 
three library initiatives passed in the last nine years. 

``You came to me with a vision, a vision that we happen to be standing in 
today,'' said Agnos, whose wife, Sherry, is now a library commissioner. 

Her praise of Dowlin was towering. ``You brought this library from the Dark 
Ages to what is clearly an innovative, state of the art library that is the 
envy of the entire world,'' she said. 

UNION DISPLEASED 

Others were less charitable. David Gabler, field representative of Service 
Employees International Union Local 790, which represents most of the library's 
staff, said, ``It has to be that he grossly mismanaged the library.'' 

``We object to the position that we were put in'' by Dowlin's budget cut 
proposals, ``that it's books or people,'' he said. 

With Dowlin's departure and Brown's refusal to sanction staff cuts, Coulter 
said the commission will collect money-saving ideas but will wait for the audit 
before making any decisions. 

In his talk, Dowlin, the computer devotee, said public libraries have no choice 
but to ride the wave of technology, supplementing books with access to the 
Internet and a variety of other databases. ``We must use all the technology 
available today to accomplish our mission,'' he said. 

Dowlin asked Cathy Page, chief librarian at the new Main Library, to be the 
interim city librarian. Coulter said the commission plans a nationwide search 
for a permanent successor, a process that could take several months. 

Dowlin is running for president of the American Library Association, the 
national organization that will hold its convention in San Francisco late this 
June. 


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