Longtime Timberland Regional Library administrator Brenda Lane is no longer employed with the regional library district.
Lane’s employment with TRL ended Tuesday, June 2, a TRL spokesperson confirmed Wednesday.
TRL Interim Executive Director Andrea Heisel sent an email to all staff Tuesday evening informing them that it was Lane’s last day of employment with TRL.
“Although former employees are no longer allowed in restricted areas of our buildings, they should be treated as we treat other guests and patrons in our libraries,” the email forwarded to the Thurston Chronicle reads.
The details of Lane’s separation from TRL have not been publicly released.
Lane was first hired at TRL as an executive assistant in 2010, according to TRL Board of Trustees meeting minutes from the time.
At the time of her departure, she was head of TRL’s finance, operations, HR and creative services departments.
The end of Lane’s employment with TRL comes a week after a string of Microsoft Teams messages between Lane and Finance Administrator Paige Preston obtained by a community member via a public records request were posted online.
In those messages, Lane and Preston are documented disparaging the TRL Board of Trustees, staff and patrons.
Preston tendered her resignation, effective June 15, before the messages became public.
Lane has been publicly criticized in recent months for her alleged role in creating TRL’s current budget crisis.
She has also been accused of cultivating a “toxic” work culture within TRL, mistreating TRL staff and retaliating against those who criticized her.
When initially asked for comment on the released Teams messages, TRL Communications and Media Coordinator Anna Lisa Rasmussen said, “We are aware of the messages released through a public records request and are working through the appropriate process to address this serious matter. This is an evolving situation and involves personnel matters that we are unable to provide additional comment on at this time.”
TRL is in the process of reworking its administrative structure to bring more people to the table, dividing up oversight of seven departments — including the four previously overseen by Lane — to 10 administrators.
The positions will all be filled by current TRL employees within the departments they would be tasked with overseeing, according to Heisel.
The positions would be a public services director, two IT administrators, a collections services administrator, a finance administrator, a human resources administrator, an operations administrator, a communications marketing coordinator, a public information officer/clerk of the board, and a special projects coordinator.
The fleet, facilities and Anywhere Library departments are not affected by the administration restructuring.
For the Thurston Chronicle’s previous article on the released messages, visit https://tinyurl.com/yk8p7caz
