Fresno County librarian resigns; cites personal reasons for departure

Fresno County Librarian Laurel Prysiazny resigned Tuesday, Fresno County officials confirm.

The resignation is effective immediately. She told supervisors in a letter that the resignation was due to health issues.

“It is time for me to focus on my personal life, and most specifically my health,” Prysiazny said in a letter to her staff issued Tuesday. “I have been honored and blessed to be your county librarian and I wish you every success.”

County supervisors learned Tuesday afternoon that Prysiazny was leaving. In emails to The Bee, Prysiazny confirmed her reasons were “personal life” issues. She has been the county librarian for since June 2010.

“Working for the Fresno County Public Library has been the most rewarding job of my career,” she said. “I am proud of all that we have accomplished to improve library services to the community. The staff cares passionately about their work and does an amazing job every day.”

County Administrator Jean Rousseau confirmed Wednesday that Prysiazny’s resignation was due to “some health concerns.”

Rousseau said he met with county management staff and library employees at the downtown Fresno library branch to offer assurances.

“I wanted to let them know we are here to support the library and that change can be difficult and angst ridden, but that we are here to support them the best we can,” he said.

Prysiazny came to Fresno in 2010 from the Phoenix Public Library in Arizona, where she served as deputy director. Before that, she worked seven years in the Long Beach Public Library system as associate director.

Kelley Landano, a 20-year Fresno County Public Library employee, was named interim librarian, Rousseau said.

Rousseau said he anticipates a recruitment process to take three to four months.

“The sooner the better,” he said.

Fresno County’s library system has about three dozen facilities, an annual budget of $30 million and 328 employees. The librarian position pays about $130,000 annually.

Last year, the library system added a new facility in southeast Fresno that is housed in the former site of a Fresh & Easy store. The nearly 14,000-square-foot Betty Rodriguez Regional Library replaced a 40-year-old, problem-ridden building about half the size in a strip mall at the nearby corner of Clinton and Cedar avenues.

Under its agreement, the county spent $2.6 million to acquire the property and another $1 million to renovate it. The new library was paid for with money from Measure B, a Fresno County voter-approved tax measure.

The Shields and Cedar avenues site is the first of three library replacement projects. Construction of a new Clovis library is expected in the next two years and a new Reedley library is anticipated to be under construction within three years.

This story was originally published February 15, 2017 at 12:23 PM with the headline "Fresno County librarian resigns; cites personal reasons for departure."