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Photograph by Skye Dunlap
Susan Fuller has served as director of the county library system since 1985. The 'Library Journal' chose her as the nation's librarian of the year.
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Political savvy earns top honor for local librarian
By MICHELLE KU
When Susan Fuller began her first day of work as a children's librarian for the Cupertino City Library, little did she know that 24 years later, she would be named the 1998 Librarian of the Year.
"I really hadn't thought of [being named Librarian of the Year]," says Fuller, county librarian of the Santa Clara County Library system. The county library has eight regional libraries that serve more than 397,000 people in nine cities and the unincorporated parts of the county.
Fuller hasn't dedicated her life to public libraries to win awards; her focus is to serve the public by providing the best service and collection possible.
"I really do have a very strong commitment to the mission of the library--to the right to information, access to materials and to protect the library's constitutional form," Fuller says. "It's a place where the First Amendment plays out. At the bedrock it is your right to information."
Librarian of the Year is a national award given annually by the Library Journal, the premier publication for library professionals. The recipient is selected from a pool of librarians nominated for their service and dedication to the profession.
Mayor Wally Dean and the City Council honored and commended Fuller with a proclamation and lifetime Cupertino library card at the March 15 meeting.
"By honoring me, you are honoring so many people," Fuller said. "You're honoring the staff--certainly of the Cupertino library."
During the ceremony, Y. Diana Wu, chairwoman of Cupertino's Library Commission, brought Fuller's award into context.
"According to the American Library Directory, there are 33,108 libraries in the United States; among them are 16,250 public libraries," Wu said. "There are more branch libraries than McDonald's."
When nominations opened for the 1998 Librarian of the Year, the county library staff got together to nominate Fuller.
"We don't send in a nominee every year," said Mary-Ann Wallace, supervisor of the Cupertino library. "Library staff all over the county thought she deserved it."
The nomination was secretly done and Fuller did not know about it until Thanksgiving when Library Journal called her with the news.
"When they said they were giving me the award, my mouth fell to the ground," Fuller says.
Since Fuller became the fifth director of the county library system in 1985--after 12 years with the San Jose Public Library--usage of the library system has increased from a circulation of 2.5 million in 1985 to nearly 6.8 million in 1998. In January, American Libraries ranked the county system seventh in the country in the Over 100,000 Population Category.
In 1993, when the California legislature shifted $1.5 billion in property taxes from cities and counties to the schools, the county's eight regional libraries lost 40 percent of its revenue and had to lay off 40 percent of the staff. To explore new methods of funding, Fuller met with city managers and city councils to eventually create the Joint Powers Authority, shifting governance of libraries from the Board of Supervisors to the cities served.
Fuller has also twice served as an advocate against censorship. In 1991, an individual challenged the county system's policy to allow open access to all videos regardless of the rating. In 1998, filtering of the Internet became an issue when a procensorship group brought the police to the library to try to arrest staff members over access to the Internet at library terminals.
"It was a lengthy and painful decision on Internet access and library access," Fuller says.
Besides being the director of the county system, Fuller's ties with the city go deeper. She began her career as a Cupertino children's librarian and was the head of the Cupertino library when it opened at its present location on Torre Avenue in April 1971.
Her time as a Cupertino librarian paved the way for her future positions.
"It was wonderful," Fuller says. "It's the best training in the world. If you can face 60 to 70 2-year-olds, you can do anything."
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Cupertino, California Since 1947
