Secretary of State Jason Kander is firing ten employees of the state library so he can divert money from their salaries to other ventures. We’ve been told employees were called to a meeting Thursday afternoon and were given letters, most of which said employees would keep their jobs. But letters to ten of them said they’d would be fired at the end of the fiscal year, June 30th.
A Kander spokesman prefers to say ” the State Library employees will not be fired, they will be laid off because their positions are being eliminated at the end of the fiscal year.”
We’ve been told the cuts will eliminate half of the employees of the Library reference division and half of the Library Development division is being fired. Staffing for the Wolfner Library for the Blind is not affected.
Kander’s office has released a statement saying he wants to cut administrative costs so more money can be made available for libraries throughout the state.
The employees in the Secretary of State’s office are not protected by the state merit system. Kander’s spokesman says they might be considered for future jobs in his office.