Ramiro Salazar and Jean Brady

[00:01] JEAN BRADY: Hello. My name is Jean Brady. I'm 79 years old. Today's date is November 30, 2022. This is San Antonio, Texas, and I am sitting with Ramiro Salazar, the executive director of the San Antonio Public Library.

[00:20] RAMIRO SALAZAR: Hello, I'm Ramiro Salazar. I am 68 years old. Today is November 30, 2022. We're in San Antonio, Texas. I will be having a conversation with Jean Brady, immediate past president of the board of the library's San Antonio Public Library, and Jean is the chair, immediate past chair of library board of trustees. So, Jean I thought I would start the conversation today, and I thought it would be good if we could share with the folks that are listening how we first met, and we have enjoyed the relationship, a wonderful relationship, for close to 18 years. And I think folks would be interested in knowing how we started working together and how we worked as a team to advance the goals of the San Antonio Public Library. You as a board member initially, and then you were elected chair of the library board of trustees, which you held that position for over ten years, and we were involved in a lot of initiatives. So I would like to have a conversation regarding that.

[01:41] JEAN BRADY: So, Ramiro it's hard to believe it's been 18 years. Goodness gracious. I can remember when I first went on the board, which was about 2003, I was appointed by Councilman Roger Flores to be a member of the board. I think he sort of owed me something, he thought, because I had just come out of a little neighborhood skirmish. And so he said, I'll just appoint Jean to the library board of trustees because she's a librarian. So I asked the chair, who was Frank Davila at that point? He lived in my neighborhood. I said, frank, so what do you do on the library board of trustees? And he said, well, Jean you just meet once a month at a meeting. So I thought that wasn't a bad deal. I could do that. And so the first meeting I went to, I found out that they had just lost their library director for one reason or another, and things were not going too well. It was a board of people I didn't know at all, and they were going to be searching for a new director. And while I had been a school librarian, I never realized what a big business libraries were, public libraries were. So I sort of sat there for a while before I said much, and they kept putting me on these committees, and I got on the committee, the search committee, we had to do. It was a long time. It seemed like we had to do a search firm, and I found out what bureaucracy is all about, because you have to have an RFP, that's a request for purchase, and you have to do all these different things. It has to be approved by the city council, and because you're spending a certain amount of money. So they put me on the committee. And so we got down to the finalists. Ramiro Salazar was one of the finalists. I think there were three finalists, and there the committee was made up of, I think it was three board members, one foundation person, and one city person, if I remember right.

[04:09] RAMIRO SALAZAR: That's correct.

[04:10] JEAN BRADY: And Ramiro was. The search committee gave us all. They gave us all these questions. We didn't get to make up our own questions like we're doing today. They gave us a question to ask. And my question was, why would you want to come to San Antonio, Texas? And so, Ramiro how did you answer?

[04:36] RAMIRO SALAZAR: Well, I remember very clearly, because what motivated me to apply for the position here with the San Antonio Public Library was the fact that the library board of trustees, working with the library foundation and members of the city council, had done quite a lot of work to advance this notion of creating a library district where the district would be independent. The district would have the opportunity to go to the public and get funding from the public, opposed to having to fight for a piece of the pie with other city services, such as fire, police, and so on. All of them, essential services, and libraries are essential services. So that really interested me and intrigued me. And the other important reason why I was very interested in returning to the San Antonio Public Library. And perhaps I can talk a little about what I meant by returning to the San Antonio Public Library. But was the fact that my mother, who passed away a little over two years ago, may she rest in peace, lives in Del Rio, which is two and a half hour drive from San Antonio, which made of, brought me closer to her as well. As I have family here in San Antonio, so family and the fact that the San Antonio Public Library, library board of trustees was pursuing the creation of a library district are the two primary reasons that brought me here to San Antonio. And I love San Antonio. I did work with the San Antonio Public Library, not as library director, but I was an administrator in the eighties, from 1984 to 1990, I started as the head of technical services. And then I was promoted, and I had two jobs, dual jobs. One is head of the main library. At that time, it was called the main library. It's now called the Central Library, and it was located somewhere else because the new library was built after I left. So I did return back to the San Antonio Public Library. And I. I'm glad I did. I feel very fortunate. And then I had an opportunity to work with the library board of trustees, and you and I develop a relationship. And when you were elected chair of the library board of trustees, we really became a team, you and I. We really worked together on many, many initiatives on board development, as well as advancing many of the goals of the San Antonio Public Library. You taking on the leadership role as chair of the library board of trustees. So that's how we started. And I thank you for being part of the selection process. And so you had a role in me coming here to San Antonio. I'm assuming that you voted for me, if I can say that.

[07:43] JEAN BRADY: Well, Ramiro you didn't go back and look it up. Just checking.

[07:48] RAMIRO SALAZAR: Well, I guess it's in the minutes, right? No, I did not.

[07:50] JEAN BRADY: No, it's probably not. I think it was executive session. So that will be a deep, dark secret as to whether I voted for him or not. Forever. But we've been pleased with Ramiro so much, and anybody who thinks that running a public library is a place where you just go and read books and things like that, I have news for you. It's a big business. 500 employees. When Ramiro came, he did not walk into the best situation there were, if I remember right, somewhere between 91 hundred vacancies. Staff morale was very low. And I can remember going to one meeting with the staff and thinking, now, why did I do this? Why did I want to be a part of this? Because this is not fun. But the staff was wonderful. They came around and they followed Ramiro and we began to change things. The library district didn't ever materialize, but it was good in many ways. And I think I. Probably the best way was that it said to the public, we need to do something about our library system. They need more money, and they need to be out there doing more things. If I remember right, the first year, I'm not sure it was the first year I was on the board, but maybe the first year I was chair, I think our budget was $19 million.

[09:33] RAMIRO SALAZAR: That's about right, Jean Yeah, that's around 1920. And almost 18 years later, it's almost $50 million. We opened, as you may recall, quite a number of branch, new branch libraries during our tenure. And by the way, Jean continues to serve on the library board of trustees. She's a member of the executive committee, immediate past chair. So, yes, there was a lot that we accomplished. And going back to the challenges, I was aware of some of the challenges when I applied for the job. But, you know, it's not a cliche, but it's true for me that I do embrace and like challenges, like the opportunity to bring about change. And it's been a collective effort. I've been very fortunate to have wonderful staff, team members we enjoy. It's a sense of family from my perspective. The library team sticks together. They support each other. And again, it's their efforts that has made San Antonio public library organization that is known nationally. And just recently, the results of a citywide survey was released to the public, and the library was tied for first, along with FHIr and ems, for the greatest customer satisfaction rating of all city services, of all the services the city provides. So that speaks volumes for the staff of the San Antonio Public Library. So it's been a wonderful journey. Jean, I'd like to ask you a question regarding as chair. As a member and as chair of the library board of trustees, you've had an opportunity to work with quite a number of board members, some that have. That are no longer on the board, that have left us. So could you share with us of any particular board members that you would like to recognize and acknowledge that they had some impact on you? Either they serve as a mentor or advisor. Would you like to share that with us?

[12:00] JEAN BRADY: Well, yes, I remember, actually, all the board members have been mentors for me, particularly when we came. When I first came on the board, they didn't have anything to tell us what to do. I didn't know what to do. Yeah, I could show up for the meetings, but nobody said, well, you need to do this, you need to do that. And one in particular, I'm trying to remember her last name now. Kathy from district three.

[12:33] RAMIRO SALAZAR: Kathy Dean, I believe.

[12:34] JEAN BRADY: Kathy Dean, exactly. Ramiro And she was just so kind to me. I could call Kathy and say, so what is this about? What does this mean? Because there's a lot of stuff you don't know about finances, you know, all these kinds of things. And Kathy was so kind to me about telling me how to do things. And then we began to do an orientation later on, which I think has been beneficial to the new board members coming on. But also, there would be so many, like elder Flores from district four, who was always there, and I could ask her many questions, and Gloria Malone from district two, just one of my favorite people in the whole wide world. She's passed away. But she would call me and say, now, jean, you need to be doing this. And I didn't always have to do it, but she was telling me what to do. And then there was Loyce ence. Both of those ladies were with me as executive committee members. Loyce and Gloria for probably most of the time. I kept trying them to get them to take the chair position, but I think they liked telling me what to do. But I'm not sure, not sure how it went. But together we worked really well. And Gloria was quite the character. She would sit at the board meetings. She didn't always speak out loud, but she was talking under her breath a lot. So if you sat next to her sometimes it was a little hard to keep a straight face. And Lois was always the person you called on if you thought you might be doing something wrong. And Lois would straighten you out in a minute. Not in public, by the way. Most of the time she did it in the parking garage after the meeting was over. So those are the main people. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention John Nicholas, who was the chair prior to me. He let me be on all the committees so I could see what was going on. He was very good about doing that. Being a mentor. I guess maybe Don counts, who was a previous chair, who's the one who talked me into being chair at a couple of meetings, breakfast meetings, so. But all the board members are engaged. They really take it seriously. They take their job seriously. It is a job to them. They're all passionate about the library. And I think it makes for a really good board.

[15:31] RAMIRO SALAZAR: Well, I agree. As you know, Jean the library board of trustees for the San Antonio Public Library is more than an advisory board. It's not an advisory board. It's actually a policy making board. And as you alluded to earlier in the conversation, in fact, the library board of trustees has responsibility for having and providing management oversight for the library system, for hiring the library director and its employees, though that job is delegated to the library director. So it's a very important board that provides, again, policy direction for library administration. So the work is very important. And I agree with you, Eugene. All board members that I have had the pleasure of serving under. Have been very engaging, engaged in their responsibilities. But I agree with you, Miss Malone. Gloria Malone and I, Lois, Inc. Are two individuals that really provided an interesting flavor to the library board proceedings. But we learn a lot from those two wonderful ladies. They're super smart. And Lois didn't always speak up, but when she did, she always had some profound statement or advice to provide to the board. And she worked very subtly. And so I too, remember those two individuals as someones that. Individuals that provided an impact on the library board of trustees. So thank you for sharing that with the listeners. So, if I was to ask you, what are your top five memorable experiences serving them as a member of the library board of trustees? As chair of the library board, what would those be?

[17:49] JEAN BRADY: Well, five. It would be interesting, I think.

[17:53] RAMIRO SALAZAR: Well, up to five. Let's do that.

[17:56] JEAN BRADY: Okay. Let's start with opening the branch libraries that we've. The new branch libraries. And I think there are more than five. But the first one I went to as a board member was the Guerra library, which I really didn't have anything to do with. I was brand new to the board, almost didn't go, and found out once I got there, it was really a pretty big deal. And all these people came to speak and came to talk about how grateful they were to have this library in their area. And I think that any branch library opening would be a highlight for me. Not sure what other highlights are. Depends on how you define a highlight. I know that sometimes I had to speak in front of cameras. I'm not sure that was a highlight, but it certainly made an impression on me when I had to speak extemporaneously in front of a tv camera about some issue and made me realize I needed a little more experience in that field. I think I used to have to go and give a whole report to the city council, which, once again, I don't know how you define a highlight, but I really worked hard in trying to present the best I could for the library system. And I think. I think one of the greatest thrills that I got, maybe, was a staff. It was a staff workday, and Cheryl Scully, the executive in charge of the city, talked about me, and the staff cheered, and that made me feel really wonderful.

[20:03] RAMIRO SALAZAR: Well, you deserve to be recognized and cheered. There have been many memorable experiences. But you talked about opening new branch library. So I started making a mental list and I started writing. So there were quite a few. Jean you were, again part of the. You've been part of the library board of trustees during all my tenure, which will be 18 years, rather. April 5, 2023. And time has flown, but we have accomplished so much. So here are some of the branches that we had an opportunity to open together in those almost 18 years. The first branch I had an opportunity to open as library director was the Sims branch library. They're not in any order, but we had the Parman branch library, the John Igoe branch library, the Maverick Branch Library, the Encino Branch Library, which, you may recall, it was formerly a restaurant that was retrofitted into a wonderful library. Then the Chafer branch Library in the southeast Portranko Branch Library, the Molly Pruitt Branch Library, which is a partnership with the Northeast Independent School District. And, of course, where we are today at the Mission Branch library, is super popular branch library. And then we participated in a large number of renovations. The Cortes branch Library was completely transformed, as you may recall, we gave it a new look to it, which instills pride in the community. So you and I, along with the rest of the board and staff, have been involved in realizing wonderful facilities for the community. So I feel honored and very fortunate to be part of those improvements. I have to note that the San Pedro Branch Library, which is the oldest branch facility in the library system, as you know, we have 28 branches in the central Library, which is often referred to the great enchilada. San Pedro was also renovated and restored to its original glory. So that's something that project I'm very proud of. But there are many. So we've seen a lot of changes throughout our, again, almost 18 years working together. Are there any that you would like to highlight other than some of the facilities? Maybe there's some other changes that you might want to share. We can discuss.

[22:53] JEAN BRADY: I would say probably at the top of my list and things that we've accomplished is our marketing department, our marketing and pr department. I have to say that we didn't have that. Nobody knew what was going on at the library. I said, Ramiro we need to go out and tell people about this. And we did. We went to every Lions Club and Rotary Club, I think, in the city and had breakfast or lunch with them, and Ramiro would talk about the library, and I would talk about how much money we needed. So we worked as a team to do that. And then we only had one person on staff doing pr and marketing.

[23:42] RAMIRO SALAZAR: And.

[23:42] JEAN BRADY: Now we have, what, ten, maybe we.

[23:46] RAMIRO SALAZAR: Have actually 8810 with temporary staff. Yes.

[23:53] JEAN BRADY: So telling the story of the library to the public in San Antonio has been important to me, because if you don't tell them what's going on, they're not going to come.

[24:04] RAMIRO SALAZAR: That's true. You have always emphasized the power of the story, of telling stories, and it's something that you practice, and it's something that we have also adopted in terms of telling our story. And you're correct. The brand of the San Antonio public Library is very important to the community, and it's something that we promote because it's a service that's provided to the community. We also had talking about notable experiences. What about the time we were at the White House.

[24:38] JEAN BRADY: Oh, yes, I forgot about that one. I had just become chair, I think, that that year, and the library won an award along with the foundation. And Ramiro called one day and said, I didn't think I would get to go because I thought the past chair would go. John Nicholas. And Ramiro called one day and said, Jean would you like to go to the White House? Well, of course I wanted to go to the White House. So we did and got the award from Laura Bush from the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences. And it was a thrill. And we had two people with us who told their library stories, and we got to go have breakfast. I believe it was breakfast or brunch, wasn't it? And meet Laura Bush and have our picture made with her. It certainly was a highlight.

[25:45] RAMIRO SALAZAR: That was the highlight. And you talked about, we had two library users that for them, the San Antonio public Library transformed their lives. We had a young lady who was learning English and working on her ged by taking advantage of the services and resources at library. And then we had the gentleman who became an architect, and he told the story. He would tell the story that when he would attend conferences of architects throughout the country, in general conversations, people would say, well, where did you get your degree? Well, some would say ut or UCLA, LSU. And he would say, I got my degree at SAPL. SAPL. What institution is that? It's the San Antonio Public Library. That's where I studied architecture. But I read practically every book the library had on the architecture and design and so on. And then I took the state test and I passed it, and I became an architect. That's a wonderful story. And that's the power of public libraries. And that's just one story and, well, two stories. The story of the young lady, young mother, who used the resources of the library to get out of poverty. So that was a very wonderful experience. The San Antonio Public Library was recognized with National Medal of Honor, and we're very proud, and we still have the photos there at the central Library of our visit at the White House. What a wonderful experience. So you mentioned the library foundation. Library foundation. The library has two key stakeholders, stakeholder groups. The San Antonio Public Library foundation. I'll talk a little about it, and Jean and I can. Jean can jump in, as well as Friends of the San Antonio Public Library. But the San Antonio Public Library foundation was created to raise money to build this new library, where we now occupy on 600 Soledad, which is a red building that's a major landmark in downtown. And the foundation has been very instrumental in raising money once the building was built and opened, they continue. The San Antonio Public Library Fund foundation continues to support the library. So a shout out to the library foundation, and the Friends of the San Antonio Public Library also have been very supportive of all of our efforts. And so those are two key stakeholder groups that should be recognized as part of our conversation. Jean, do you have anything to add?

[28:32] JEAN BRADY: Exactly. The foundation, like you said, has been raising money since the inception of the central library, and the friends are equally as important. The friends do a different sort of job. They raise money for their branch library, and they fund a bunch of things that we can't fund. And then as we talk about the foundation, they put the cherry on top of the ice cream. So they always give us the extra thing that makes it, makes it work. And we're grateful to both those organizations for their support and their money, to be honest.

[29:15] RAMIRO SALAZAR: Well, Jean what do you see some of the more immediate goals going forward for the San Antonio public Library? You're still very involved. You're a member of the executive committee for the library board of trustees. You're still very engaged. I know that one of the areas of interest, and you mentioned earlier, is public relations and marketing, and you chair the committee, public relations and advocacy. And so I think you have some big plans for this coming year related to the work of the committee and the staff. Do you want to share some of those goals with us?

[29:53] JEAN BRADY: Well, I think that the staff, we've grown so much that they are managing most of this, but I think we have to be looking toward the future. What will the San Antonio Public Library look like in the next ten to 15, maybe 20 years? And we have to keep those things in mind. I know that we're working on a strategic plan, and that will be an important thing. Our strategic plans don't sit on the shelf. They are active and we follow them and we try to revise them every five or six years, depending on when we can get it done. We are going to be into major renovations from the 20. What is it? 2022 bond. What bond are we in at this point, actually?

[30:46] RAMIRO SALAZAR: Well, yes, we can. Let me interrupt you, Jean if I may. It is one. We're still finishing the 2017 bond program. We have some improvements at the central Library. We can talk about that in a few minutes. And then the 2022 bond program provided some additional monies for the central Library, and we can talk about that, Teksana. So, yes, you're correct. They're both. We're still working on those two bond programs, 2017 and 2022.

[31:18] JEAN BRADY: One of the things about the bond program is that we found out we didn't know this or I didn't know it. Let's just say that, and probably the board. This is where the board really becomes an advocacy unit for the public library, because they have these bond meetings, and you have to go and talk about why I, the library needs $18 million or $20 million for whatever. And we are competing with fire, police, parks, and any number of organizations, nonprofit organizations that are related to the city, that are asking for money from the bond. So I will say that years ago, when we started, there was not much bond money. And when Cheryl Scully came to be city manager, she started increasing the bonds. And that became a really big point for us because we got to build new libraries and we got to renovate. We would go and take our supporters and testify as to why we needed money in the bond. And for the most part, it works because people love libraries.

[32:47] RAMIRO SALAZAR: Well, I agree, but it also speaks to the advocacy efforts that you supported and you champion having a voice in those meetings. Continuing to advocate for the, the San Antonio Public Library, that's a very important role that you play, amongst many other roles. So I wanted to acknowledge that. I know we're running out of time, so I wanted to close Jean by thanking you. It's been wonderful working with you. We work as, in our respective roles, chair of the library board and I as director. But we have also become friends, and we have. We trust each other. You don't hesitate picking up the phone, calling me and suggesting strategies or ideas and so on. So you're actively engaged and involved, and that speaks to your commitment. So I want to express my gratitude for the service that you have provided to the San Antonio Public Library as a board member, as a friend, as a colleague, because you are also a librarian, once a librarian, no matter if you retire, you're still a librarian and you're passionate about the work of libraries. So thank you so much. I wanted to publicly thank you.

[34:09] JEAN BRADY: Thanks, Ramiro And I will reciprocate by saying I never thought we would really be partners. I wasn't quite sure how it would always work. I hadn't ever done anything like this. Won't ever do it again, that's for sure. But when I stepped into it, I remember. I think I sent Ramiro I don't think he remembers this, but I remember sending Ramiro an email saying, I don't know how to do this, but if you'll hold my hand, we'll get through it, and I think we have. And he's been a great partner, and he's been great for the city of San Antonio. Just look around. Look at the libraries, the ones he listed, and they're due to his diligence. And his staff and all the other staff who work at the San Antonio public Library, I'm so proud of them. Thank you.