SHHHH… NO, MONO COUNTY LIBRARY STAFF WILL NOT BE SILENCED

Most of us think of libraries as welcoming places, safe havens, removed from greed and politics and ambition. 

But even libraries are susceptible to the whims of petty tyrants. 

This may help explain why your neighbors whom you’ve known for decades are no longer working at your local library branch. Meanwhile, a guy you had never heard of until a few weeks ago, with the tacit consent of Mono County School Superintendent Tammy Bennett Nguyen, remains. 

In her capacity as superintendent, Nguyen runs the Mono County Office of Education (MCOE). 

And the MCOE runs the Mono County Library system. 

This is atypical. Mono County is the only county in the state whose libraries operate under the aegis of the Office of Education, according to Nguyen. 

The MCOE Board, therefore, also operates as the Library Authority Board. 

Nguyen says the Library Authority Board is advisory in nature. It approves budgets and oversees land and facilities. However, in the words of MCOE Board President Jake Suppa, “As a trustee, we don’t handle personnel or staffing issues … I am aware of the situation and the culture shift.”

So by situation and culture shift, what is he referring to? 

Well, he’s referring to the guy you had never heard of until a few weeks ago, Mono County Libraries Director Joe Bopp. 

The Sheet wrote about Bopp three weeks ago because he’s been sitting up in his glass castle at Mammoth Library surveilling the parking lot and writing unenforceable and illegal parking tickets. 

When he’s not doing that, he likes to fill personnel files with disciplinary complaints. 

Twenty-five-year MCOE employee and former Crowley Lake Branch Librarian Lori Michelon said curtly, “I get pissed off when people doing bad things get rewarded.” 

“But it’s not illegal to be an asshole.” 

Her disciplinary write-ups are the stuff of a Monty Python sketch. 

“I was disciplined for asking Joe to put the seat down in the staff bathroom [after he’s finished].”

Dissent (and common courtesy and basic hygiene) will not be tolerated!

On another occasion, Michelon said that when she opened the library, she had entered via the back door which is not monitored by a remote camera. 

So a half hour into her shift, Bopp calls and asks why she’s late. 

What do you mean? I wasn’t late. She calls him out. Are you watching me on the camera? 

No no. A patron called to say the door is locked. 

Really? 

*It’s one thing to be a weenie. It’s another to be a liar. 

Bopp is the Lieutenant Haulk character played by Bruno Kirby in Good Morning Vietnam. 

Michelon resigned in October 2025.

 

Peter Hodges last day was June 30, 2026. 

He was a 22-year employee, and was also in Bopp’s crosshairs. 

“Joe is pretty abusive. A raging narcissist.” said Hodges. “For my mental health, I just had to get out of there.” 

“Everyone [there] has to get physical/mental health counseling because of Joe, who’s incompetent and blames employees [for his own shortcomings].” 

“He blames Christopher [the previous director] for everything that’s wrong. But in my opinion, I thought Christopher was pretty great.” 

“You would assume that after twenty-plus years, me, [former Mammoth Branch Head Librarian] Doug Oldham and Carole [Lester, June Lake Branch Librarian] know how to do our jobs.”

Hodges referenced a write-up that he received earlier this year. 

“In my write-up … I’d say 20% of it was true and something I could accept and work on. But 80% of it was literally made up. Joe Bopp lies.” 

 

Doug Oldham retired in September 2025 after 24 years of service. 

He admitted he would not have retired if the Library leadership had been different. 

“I enjoyed being there and what I did and helping people.” 

Oldham described Bopp as manipulative and sneaky. 

He found the Sheet reporting on Bopp and his traffic tickets ironic. “Bopp’s been in town two years. As of six months ago, he still hadn’t changed over his car registration [from Washington state].” 

Jo Bacon has long served as a board member for Mammoth Lakes Friends of the Library, and, until last year, had served as a super-sub for Mono County Libraries, filling in at Mammoth, June Lake, Lee Vining and Crowley branches for approximately a decade. 

Bacon was then told she had to quit because of a Calpers issue – that it would put her state retirement at risk if she continued to sub. 

Other subs like Janet Carle and Deanna Dulen were similarly excised. 

But honestly, Bacon said she didn’t shed too many tears about losing the job. 

“It was a hostile work environment … I didn’t want to see [my fellow] employees in tears. The worst part is, his bosses [County Schools Superintendent Tammy Nguyen and the County Board of Education] aren’t doing anything about it.” 

Bacon singled out Nguyen. 

“She’s done nothing with what we’ve told her.”

 

Beth Chasnoff Long’s last day as the Lee Vining Branch Librarian was July 11. 

She still loved her job. And was four months shy of her 10-year work anniversary, which would have vested her in the state retirement system.

Long was the victim of a staff restructuring. 

The Lee Vining branch used to have a 20-hour position (Long) and a 4-hour position (held by Russ Reese). 

MCOE removed the four-hour position, and then rewrote the job description and flew the remaining 20-hour position. 

Similarly, there was a vacancy in Bridgeport where they promoted the assistant to the manager position, and then removed the assistant position, reducing Bridgeport library hours from 36 to 30. 

Anyway, MCOE decided to promote Reese to the 20-hour job and eliminate Long. 

She wasn’t terribly surprised she was on the outs. She spoke up at a meeting in January, 2025 and soon became a staff member others approached to talk about things. “It opened my eyes as to how many problems there were.”

That doesn’t mean it stung any less. 

Former Library Director Christopher Platt “relied on us to know our communities,” she said. 

In the case of Lee Vining, you’ve got no arts council, no senior center, a small population … the library fulfills a lot of roles.

Nguyen naturally would like to shift the conversation and focus on Mr. Bopp’s strengths, which she said are in technology. 

Bopp came to the Eastern Sierra from the Seattle area, where he worked for both the Seattle Public Library system and the University of Washington. 

The library system website is undergoing a complete reboot, and she said Bopp is focused on mobile and app capacity to reach a younger demographic. 

Carissa Devine has also been promoted to “Branch Operations and Patron Experience Manager” at the Mammoth branch. This should reduce Bopp’s interaction and exposure with patrons and staff. 

But removing responsibilities from a job description isn’t necessarily the solution, said Doug Oldham. 

“The position is not just administrative. The job is about being part of the community.” 

Or as Lori Michelon said succinctly, “Joe Bopp is just not the right guy.”