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Bank of America exec named BPL trustee chairman

Mayor Walsh's office announced today that Bob Gallery,president of Bank of America Massachusetts is the Boston Public Library's new trustees chairman.

Gallery replaces Jeffrey Rudman, who resigned this summer in the midst of the missing-prints brouhaha.

The case of the missing prints also forced the resignation of BPL President Amy Ryan; BPL is in the midst of preparing a search for a new library president.

Along with Gallery's appointment, the mayor's office also announced the appointment of Cheryl Cronin, a partner at Cronin & Leonard LLP, to the BPL board of trustees.

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Comments

BoA now there's an exemplary finical institution which our libraries should be modeled after....NOT

Big Labor is in bed with the Big Banks and Walsh is a stooge for both.

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Check out recent issues of The Real Sheet newsletter of the B.P.L.P.S.A. Boston Public Library Professional Staff Association
https://bpl.bibliocommons.com/item/show/570658075_the_real_sheet

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Now the overdue book fees will be astronomical.

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How soon before all but a few books are sent to Charlotte?

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Did Walsh appoint someone with serious library and special collections chops or the richest corporate 1%er he could find? Oh, the later? But at least Bank of America is a good corporate actor with integrity, right?


propublica.org
:

Bank of America employees regularly lied to homeowners seeking loan modifications, denied their applications for made-up reasons, and were rewarded for sending homeowners to foreclosure, according to sworn statements by former bank employees.

The employee statements were filed late last week in federal court in Boston as part of a multi-state class action suit brought on behalf of homeowners who sought to avoid foreclosure through the government’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) but say they had their cases botched by Bank of America.

In a statement, a Bank of America spokesman said that each of the former employees’ statements is “rife with factual inaccuracies” and that the bank will respond more fully in court next month. He said that Bank of America had modified more loans than any other bank and continues to “demonstrate our commitment to assisting customers who are at risk of foreclosure.”

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Boston Public Library Professional Staff Association
http://bplpsa.info/

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Funny I have a B of A Visa card. They sent a new one with the amazing new and improved chip. But ,because of where the chip is located , they no longer can put your picture on the card where it was before the chip. Dont seem like an upgrade of security to me.

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I too have Bank of America cards and have never, ever had my picture on any card. Not sure if I want it either.

I gave my card to someone to run an errand for me. Also, my daughter uses a B of A card that came from her parents joint checking account. It's great for her to have for emergencies, I can add money to it on the fly.

I get what you mean about photo adding security and all, but it would be better if merchants asked for an id for charge purchases, say over a certain dollar amount. They also have a right to protect themselves from purchases made with fraudulent cards.

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but it would be better if merchants asked for an id for charge purchases, say over a certain dollar amount. They also have a right to protect themselves from purchases made with fraudulent cards.

The merchant's contract with his or her bank and/or the card network generally:

  • makes the merchant whole in case of a fraudulent card, so long as the merchant submitted the charge through the network, obtained an authorization code, etc. (There have been scattered complaints about the banks screwing the merchant saying "the signatures did not match", but generally the merchant is covered.)
  • forbids the merchant from asking the customer for additional ID. The card network has an interest in making purchases a no-hassle experience for the cardholder
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I know of no law that forbids the merchant for asking for an ID, I could be wrong - and please let me know if you know this to be fact as a store I go to does ask for ID.

Merchants eat fraud when there are no signature required. Purchases under a certain dollar amount and gas pumps.

Remember that zip code thing that everyone was worked up about? The zip code at the gas pumps verified the customer was not using fraudulent data put on white cards. It protected the merchant as they eat all that fraud, but someone confused it with a marketing stunt.

I'll be curious if you can correct me about the ID thing as I am curious now.

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The new Chinatown Public Library should be developed and run independently from the City Library Administration. Boston Library Planning is deficient.

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Going to give them the money to buy the land, books, building.

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while the BPL has had trouble finding where they left things.

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Banks keep track of money?.....yeah the whole bailout thing says otherwise!

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the BPL has had trouble finding where they left things

In the data you analyzed to reach this conclusion, does it appear that, with regard to keeping track of its collection, compared with peer institutions or with institutions known for best practices, the BPL is much worse than others, worse than others, about the same as other, better than others, or much better than others?

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They did misplace a half million dollars worth of artwork last year.

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One staff member misfiled two valuable prints, among other valuable prints, and everyone acts like the whole library system failed. This sort of thing happens every day in libraries, both public and private, with valuable and not so valuable materials. But it isn't publicized.

Why? Because people make mistakes and/or are just not careful and are not good workers. It happens. Should it? Of course not. But it was certainly an overreaction to cause the director and the head of the board to resign. Not saying there weren't other issues at play here, and there probably were.

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... because she wouldn't rescind a job offer already made to someone for a minor library position, where he had promised the same job to someone else (without ever consulting her). This "disagreement" happened shortly before the missing art blow-up.

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3rd hand, but from the inside.

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Move Boston Public Library to a new modern up to date building. The out of date McKim and Johnson buildings aren't appropriate for an up to date library.

More of the historical buildings rooms/galleries are already used for weddings/celebrations/observances. Out of date BPL buildings bog down usability of Collections.

see also
https://www.google.com/search?q=british+library&tbm=isch

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I've read that before here in an earlier comment, but it seems so odd that the mayor couldn't find another job in the city or even the library system for whomever he was promoting. I just don't see people longing for a minor library position at low pay at the BPL. It just doesn't seem like Walsh would even have entry level jobs at the library on his radar. I'm not defending him or the former director--it just seems strange. And I'm not saying that there weren't larger issues between the two that led to the resignation. That I can believe.

When the former former director was removed by Mayor Menino, it did cause quite a commotion. This time around, not so much, probably due to the misfiled prints debacle.

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They did misplace a half million dollars worth of artwork last year.

and what I asked was whether this is particularly unusual in large research libraries with millions of items in their collections.

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But even I knew why Jeff Rudman left the board.

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But even I knew why Jeff Rudman left the board.

I don't, but I would imagine it's because he defended the director against the mayor?

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That's the point of having a board of trustees. Yes, they are appointed by the mayor, but until their term is up, they can do whatever they please.

Of course, what people missed is that a guy was elected president of the trustees on his first day. That can't be a good sign, independence wise.

Rudman is a good guy. Sure, he once tried to start a literal fight with me once when he was in the bag, but whatever. In the end, security was a concern for him at the BPL, and a half million dollars of prints missing for a year had to get to him.

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what could possibly go wrong

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People of Color - although they account for 53 percent of Boston’s population – only account for 36 percent of the city’s workforce
https://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/3v3je1/people_of_color_although...

How about our Boston Public Library!?...
http://bplpsa.info

How about our New York Public Library?...
http://www.local1930.org/

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