Free Library President and Director Siobhan Reardon resigned from her position on July 23, after more than a decade leading the city’s historic, vital and beloved institution. 

Her resignation comes after tensions between staffers and leadership at the library boiled over, following years of neglected employee complaints about racism and discrimination in the workplace — and just one day after the Voices of Now published its first interview with Andrea Lemoins. 

In the last days of her tenure, Reardon was pressured behind closed doors by Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney and some library board trustees to step down.

At noon on July 28 the Free Library Board of Trustees will hold a special meeting via zoom to hear from the public regarding recent ongoings. Some staffers have criticized the way leadership publicized the meeting and said news about the meeting was made available Saturday, July 25 — just two days before the deadline to submit public comment — and neither staff not the public was made aware of the event aside from a post on the Library website. 

The Concerned Black Workers were elated to hear of the resignation, but say change shouldn’t stop at Reardon. The group is now calling on Pamela Dembe, chair of the board of trustees, to resign. 

"She chose to ignore other members of the board, the recommendations of the Diverse Force, the Free Library's Black-led Diversity and Inclusion consulting firm, and the concerns of staff; as well as to minimize the concerns of Black staff by not responding to their letter while promptly reaching out to non-Black staff," the group said. "Dembe has chosen to work against the concerns of the Free Library community and has lost the trust of Black staff before with her anti-Black statements and actions, as a judge, within the wider community." 

The Free Library of Philadelphia, the group continued, "has years of rebuilding and healing to do and we need the board, and the community to support us in this work."

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Lastly, special shout out to the Chester Matters blog! Voices of Now was featured in Chester Matters on July 25. 

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 Billy Penn writer Layla A. Jones writes Free Library director Siobhan Reardon has resigned

The Library Journal writes about Reardon's resignation on July 24, 2020