Big Shake-Up at Santa Barbara Public Library

Library Director Jessica Cadiente and Library Services Manager Molly Wetta Placed on Indefinite Leave

Library Director Jessica Cadiente | Credit: Courtesy

The top brass of the city of Santa Barbara’s library system — Director Jessica Cadiente and Library Services Manager Molly Wetta — have been placed on indefinite leave, and René Eyerly, the assistant city administrator, has been appointed to fill the breach.

Library Services Manager Molly Weta | Credit: Courtesy

No explanation was given in the written notices sent out to members of the City Council and the city’s Library Board Monday evening by acting city administrator Sarah Knecht. Knecht stated merely that the two administrators “will not be available for regular office duties” and “will be out of the office.”

Since assuming the reins of the library system nearly 10 years ago, Cadiente has generated considerable friction, controversy, turnover, and also praise. Among her supporters, Cadiente has been a forward-thinking visionary who has wrestled the library into a much-resisted relevance, especially for younger and underserved patrons for whom social media is their portal to the outside world. Under her watch, the library has reached out assertively to help homeless people become “document ready,” while at the same time maintaining a notable security presence to discourage homeless people from hanging out.

Among her detractors, Cadiente — and, by extension, Wetta — has been inclined to break far more eggs than necessary when making omelets. Staff turnover has been high, grumbling loud, and morale problematic.

Under Cadiente’s watch, the city seceded from the countywide Black Gold inter-library loan system, a model of cooperative book borrowing that Cadiente charged left the City of Santa Barbara shouldering too large a cost burden. COVID, of course, didn’t help matters, and that, coupled with never-ending construction delays, has further disrupted access. These issues, however, have been ongoing and well-known and do not explain what triggered the sudden departure of the two at the top.