Omaha library director's new job a 'great opportunity,' but he says Nebraska's gay rights stance...

[Omaha Steve]

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http://www.omaha.com/news/metro/omaha-library-director-s-new-job-a-great-opportunity-but/article_ccdb0036-3c5d-5bfd-974f-490c56190543.html



BRENDAN SULLIVAN/THE WORLD-HERALD
Omaha Library Director Gary Wasdin, left, and his partner, Luis Boggio, have been together for 10 years and after a move to Seattle will be able to get married where they live. Wasdin said Omahans were welcoming and kind, but the state’s gay marriage ban weighed on him.

POSTED: SATURDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2014 1:00 AM
By Roseann Moring / World-Herald staff writer

Gary Wasdin was lured from the top Omaha Public Library job by the chance to work at one of the best library systems in the country — in a state where he could marry his partner.

Wasdin, who became the face of the Omaha library system in his five years here, began receiving recruitment offers less than a year after moving to Omaha.


THE WORLD-HERALD

Gary Wasdin celebrates a reading challenge with Abrahams Branch staffer Sara Nelson. Wasdin has “really elevated the position” of director, said trustees Chairman Mike Meyer.

He stayed through those years to involve the public more in Omaha’s libraries, and because he grew fond of the city.

Wasdin said he and his partner, Luis Boggio, found Omahans to be welcoming and kind.

FULL story at link.

King County Library
» $111 million annual budget, and most revenue is generated from a property tax levy specifically for libraries.
» 48 branches
» 9.9 million visitors in 2013
Same-sex marriage in Washington state
» Legalized in the State Legislature in 2012
» That legislation replaced a 2007 law that allowed domestic partnerships for same-sex couples
» Washington was the seventh state in the United States to legalize gay marriage