BURBANK : Library Director Given Reassignment

Burbank library director Holly Hinman, who has resigned effective Dec. 1, has been reassigned to other projects.

Her predecessor, Marcia Bell, 53, was hired by the city last week to handle the daily job duties until December. Bell, who retired as library director in December, 1990, after 7 1/2 years as director, had worked for the library for 27 years.

Hinman, 46, library director since March, 1991, will continue to draw her full salary of $80,000 a year until December. Bell will be paid, without benefits, $6,634 a month as an independent contractor.

“I want to move on to other challenges and opportunities,” Hinman said in her May 10 resignation letter, which also said she wanted to give the city enough advance notice to find a replacement. Her plans after leaving the library were not known.

“Holly Hinman made a personal and professional decision to resign,” Ovrom said. “She simply did us a professional courtesy to let us know well enough in advance.”

Until she leaves, Hinman will work on converting the library computers to a new system, consider reconstruction or renovation plans for the city’s Buena Vista Street Branch Library, working on ways to integrate the public library with the Burbank Unified School District library system, and study whether the Warner Research Collection, which conducts research for movie makers, is being used effectively.

“It’s really a way of accelerating these long-term projects, knowing the new director would be swamped on the day-to-day issues,” Assistant City Manager Steve Helvey said.