DATE: July 9, 2019
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Jean M. Rousseau, County Administrative Officer
SUBJECT: Confirm Appointment of the Fresno County Librarian
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
Confirm appointment of Raman Bath, effective July 15, 2019, to the position of Fresno County Librarian pursuant to Fresno County Charter Section 16.
REPORT
Approval of the recommended action will confirm Raman Bath as the Fresno County Librarian.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
Your Board could choose to not confirm the appointment.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no increase in Net County Cost associated with the recommended action. Sufficient funding is included in the FY 2019-20 Budget for the Library Org 7515.
DISCUSSION:
Pursuant to Section 16 of the Fresno County Charter, with your Board’s approval of the recommended action, the appointment of Raman Bath to the position of Fresno County Librarian by the County Administrative Officer will be confirmed. The appointment of Mr. Bath is recommended to be effective July 15, 2019, the beginning of a pay period.
Serving as the Interim County Librarian since February 2019, Raman Bath was selected from a pool of applicants as being the best-qualified candidate through the recruitment and interview process for the Fresno County Librarian position. Mr. Bath has a Masters of Library Science and Information as well as a Master of Arts in Humanities.
Throughout Mr. Bath’s 16+ years of service in the Fresno County Public Library System, he has progressively promoted to positions of increasing responsibility such as Public Services Librarian, Supervising Librarian, and most recently to the Associate County Librarian.
Mr. Bath served as the Associate County Librarian beginning in November 2017, overseeing Public Services, Facilities Services, the Library’s Information Technology Division, and the Department’s Human Resource Division. He has also provided oversight of the San Joaquin Valley Library System, a consortium of ten library jurisdictions throughout the Valley.
Mr. Bath participated in a Library Services and Technology Act grant funded leadership program through the California State Library. The Program is called the Eureka! Leadership Program and is designed to create library leaders to meet the challenges of California’s diverse library systems and equally diverse communities.
In addition, since February 2019, while serving as Interim Fresno County Librarian, Mr. Bath has overseen the Library’s budgets of approximately $31 million and a staff of 325.
CAO ANALYST:
Samantha Buck