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Three years after its embattled director resigned amid an employee uprising, the Salt Lake City Public Library now ranks as one of the best places to work along the Wasatch Front.

So, too, does the Salt Lake County Library System, according to a survey by Philadelphia-based WorkplaceDynamics.

When former Salt Lake City Library Director Beth Elder stepped down in October 2011, staffers were both rebellious and demoralized. But this past summer's employee survey lists the city library system 15th among midsize companies of any stripe — whether public, private, nonprofit or governmental.

Interim Director Linda Hamilton and her deputy, Karen Okabe, were credited with righting the organization in 2012. In May 2013, John G. Spears took the library's helm and, according to employees who participated anonymously in the survey, it is running smoothly.

"I get to work with the public, and help them with informational problems and questions they have," one employee said. "I get to defend and promote intellectual freedom. I get to be surrounded by books and other media that enhance my education and life, and I get to share that knowledge as part of my job."

The survey provided questionnaires to 20,065 employees at businesses and organizations along the Wasatch Front. Of them, 11,969 responded.

It included 22 questions covering seven factors. Three of those factors measured how workers feel about their day-to-day jobs, including management, training, pay and benefits, direction and appreciation of employees.

Spears credits staffers for their dedication and perseverance through a troubled time.

The library's vision and mission, he explains, are found through dialogue with employees, rather than a mandate by management.

"One of the first things I did when I came here," Spears says, "was to go to every branch and every department to give them a chance to know me."

He adds that the library is a great place to work because patrons value the staff's efforts.

"There is a real sense of shared purpose [among employees]," he says, "and a sense of appreciation of the community."

Donnae Tidwell, president of the Library Employees Organization, says staffers are relieved to have a permanent director.

"Now we can focus on the job and skip all the drama," she says.

It is an exciting time at the library, Tidwell notes, and the atmosphere is "positive." Current challenges mostly relate to new technology and the library's changing role in the digital age.

"The fact that someone has come in, and said, 'Let's rethink this and let's try that,' is encouraging," Tidwell says.

The bigger Salt Lake County Library System ranks 10th among large organizations, according to the survey.

Jim Cooper, the director for 13 years, says his philosophy surrounds empowering employees to provide better customer service.

"The first thing is to have a strong vision of your mission and what customer service is," he says. "We offer a lot of training and encourage employees not to be afraid of making decisions on their own."

In the end, workers understand that their choices affect the patrons, Cooper says. "They know they are making a positive difference to those they serve."

Says a county library employee in the survey: "I am allowed to grow in many ways professionally, try out new things, and still be true to my own style. ... I have had many library positions. All of them feel as if they were preparing me for this job, and I have felt happiest and most accomplished in this job."

Librarians in both the county and city systems seem to agree on this much: They "love books" and turning people on to them.

"It's wonderful," says one city staffer, "to see that books, media and everything else help families grow and be happy."

The WorkplaceDynamics survey was conducted in partnership with The Salt Lake Tribune.

Special section inside

I For more stories, lists, photos and graphics about the Wasatch Front's top workplaces, turn to the special section in today's Tribune and go to http://www.topworkplaces.sltrib.com.