Dear Sisters, Brothers, and Kin,
We are writing to share with you the exciting news that we, as co-founders, will be turning the reins of the East Side Freedom Library over to a new, full-time Executive Director in Spring, 2022. The ESFL Board, assisted by Anne Jin Soo Preston of Sahng Sahng LLC, has been preparing this transition for several months, and they will launch the public phase of its search process this month, with the release of the job announcement. The Board’s process in preparing for this transition has involved great integrity, and we are excited about the next stages in ESFL’s development.
Almost eight years ago, we negotiated a 15-year lease for Saint Paul’s historic East Side Carnegie Library. Through a visioning process with community members and collaborators, ESFL defined its mission: ”to inspire solidarity, work for justice, and advocate for equity for all.” Through public programs — author events, open forums, film screenings, puppet shows, picnics — ESFL has invited thousands of participants, of all backgrounds and ages, to consider complex ideas, talk with each other across differences, and dream their neighborhoods, and our world, forward.
We understand that ESFL’s address is not simply 1105 Greenbrier Street in Saint Paul. The Library, both place and purpose, is a crossroads of histories and communities. Built in 1917 by an initiative among European immigrants and their descendants, the Library building sits on land that has actually been stewarded, for centuries, by Dakota people. The more recent histories of this area have been determined by new groups of migrants: job-seekers from other parts of the U.S.; Hmong, Bhutanese, and Karen refugees from southeast Asia; Ethiopian, Oromo, Eritrean, and Somali groups fleeing war and climate disaster in east Africa; people fleeing violence and employment deprivation in central and South America. ESFL’s programming lifts up the vivid histories and cultures of the East Side and creates ways for people to tell their histories, share and develop cultural practices, and forge a democratic, dignified future together.
Our reliance on volunteer labor has been driven by economic realities and also because how we advance our work shapes the ends we attain. Collaborators have cataloged and shelved books, built shelves, gardened, fixed plumbing, blogged, prepared mailings, organized and hosted events. Through their work, they have deepened ESFL’s mission and laid a path for its future. So, too, have our Board members and our staff colleagues, Clarence White and Kimberly David. We know that this project is in good hands.
With confidence and optimism, we prepare ourselves and ESFL for the next stage in the Library’s journey. We will remain involved, enthusiastically, as guides and collaborators. The new Executive Director will work with an engaged and expanding Board, a talented staff that will surely grow, and superb community partners, funders, and collaborators. We have been honored to establish the East Side Freedom Library in our neighborhood, Saint Paul’s East Side. The people here share an inspiring vision of community and world, where love and solidarity are at the center of everyday life.
Peter Rachleff and Beth Cleary
Co-founders, Co-Executive Directors
