The Free Library’s Author Events staff resigned Monday due to what they called ‘heartbreaking’ work culture

The four-person team behind the Free Library of Philadelphia’s heralded Author Events Program resigned their positions on Monday morning, causing grave concern among library patrons about the future of the esteemed program.

The former staffers said they offered their resignation due to what they described as a “heartbreaking” work culture plagued by increasingly low morale over the past year, but they said their four-week notice was rejected and they were locked out of their emails by the afternoon.

Andy Kahan, a 24-year employee of the Free Library Foundation — the library’s fundraising arm that oversees the Author Events program — said he was escorted in and out of the building Monday by security guards. He suspected that meant he was being let go, but Kahan and two of his other colleagues didn’t receive notice that their positions had been terminated until the evening hours.

In a statement sent to the Friends of the Free Library Tuesday, Jeffry Benoliel, chairman of the board of the Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation, reiterated no author events would be canceled, blaming the confusion on an “unauthorized post” by one of the team members. The statement said they have not met with the team yet for exit interviews but believed from previous conversations that there was a disagreement regarding strategic direction.

”This involved the Foundation untangling itself from the day-to-day operations of the Free Library of Philadelphia (Library) now that it was fully staffed, bringing on new leadership at the Foundation to better execute on our philanthropic mission and finally, aligning cost structure with current revenue generation in support of the many programs the Foundation funds,” read the statement.

“We were unaware that the [four] events staff were going to resign yesterday, and we are unable to comment on specific personnel matters publicly,” said the Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation executive director Monique Moore Pryor in an email to The Inquirer. “Over the past several years, Library and Foundation leadership have been having discussions with all staff about ongoing changes at the Free Library and the Foundation, and leadership was aware that there are concerns among a few staff about aspects of changes in the library and Foundation operations.”

The events team disputes that their resignation caught the library by surprise, reporting having met with human resources multiple times, including as recently as last week. The former staffers said their four-week notice was so leadership could get a head start on finding replacements and so they could finish out what was left of the program’s season amicably.

The fallout of the resignation played out in the public over 24 hours with contradictory emails casting the program’s future in question.

“We would never undermine the program that we’ve loved so much, but we work closely with library colleagues and we would never have intended to do anything that would create turmoil for them either,” said Laura Kovacs, who was on the events team for about 14 years.

First, an email blast arrived in library members’ mailboxes Monday evening announcing “the entire lineup of scheduled Author Events is canceled,” and “the Author Events team is no longer with the Free Library Foundation.”

The Free Library also posted the message on its Author Events Instagram. The message was signed by Kahan; Kovacs; Jason Freeman, who had been with the program for about 11 years; and Nell Mittelstead, who had been with the program for four and a half years. The group said they did not mean to suggest that the program was ending forever, they simply sent the dispatch because they didn’t know how scheduled author events were going to go on without them.

Although the events account has just 2,000 followers, word spread quickly on social media and Philadelphians lamented the loss of the city’s top-tier literary program, which in recent weeks brought A-list celebrities and authors George Stephanopoulos and Tamron Hall to the library.

Adding to the day’s confusion, the Free Library Foundation posted on Instagram that Author Events would continue as planned.

“There are no plans to cancel any scheduled events,” the post read. “We understand that misinformation can lead to confusion and concern among our team, stakeholders, and the public.”

In an email blast later that evening the foundation went on to say the team “submitted their resignations, effective immediately,” which the group said made it seem as though they didn’t care about the program.

Created in March of 1994, the team said the program has raised the profile of the library and raised goodwill among major donors and Philadelphians. More than 50% of their events are free, drawing major authors, including the likes of Tina Fey and Bruce Springsteen.

Sources say library employees have been at odds with Richards and Pryor for some time with internal meetings becoming contentious and staff feeling disrespected.

The events team refrained from speaking about top brass, instead describing a declining workplace culture with high turnover. They described the environment as “death by a thousand cuts” with the team feeling as though their work wasn’t important to the foundation. They had expressed concerns over pay parity where half the team felt they were being underpaid.

“I don’t want more than anybody else, but I certainly don’t want less,” said Freeman.

The team said the foundation was losing experienced and quality workers.

According to The Free Library website, the City of Philadelphia provides public funding for the Library’s operations, the Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation raises private support for hundreds of programs and services in libraries across the city.

All four employees described thinking of leaving and then when they realized they weren’t alone, they decided to resign together.

Mostly hosted at the Parkway Central Library near Logan Square, the Events Programs give readers and local library goers the rare opportunity to listen to their favorite authors talk about books in person.

On average, the team hosted 120 to 130 events per year, which brought in about 20,000 people. Still, they say their reach was global with their YouTube and podcast reaching up to 3 million people in a good year.