An Anonymous Patron writes “Four years after AFPL Director Mary Kaye Hooker and AFPL’s board engineered a race-based mass transfer of Central Library employees to branch libraries, and two years after a federal jury found Hooker and several board members guilty of discrimination (and cost county taxpayers $18 million), recent state legislation authorized the Fulton County manager (rather than the board) to hire and fire AFPL’s director. The day after the bill was signed, the county manager did just that. Details (and links to media stories) can be found at the website www.afplwatch.com
Anon also submitted this press release about the appointment of interim director, Ann Haimes.
Good Riddance to racist management
Yes, the liberal madcow is here to speak out about this racist library board director. The incidents were appaling and she deserved to be sacked. Too bad it took so long.
Wow…
$18 million and change, that is quite an accomplishment.
Re:Good Riddance to racist management
Can anyone help me understand this story? She seems to be a white librarian accused of discriminating against other white librarians — is that the basis for considering her a racist?
Re:Good Riddance to racist management
The x-director moved what she called “old white women” out of their jobs and replaced them with black women. Discrimination can run both ways. The woman that were removed because of the color of their skin sued.
Re:Good Riddance to racist management
Give someone a crappy job because of their race and it is discrimination. Give someone a good job because of their race and it is discrimination.
Give someone a good or bad job because of their knowledge, skills and abilities and it is just dandy.
This director moved older white women to crappy jobs to put younger black women in their place. Unfortunately the personnel reviews did not bear out the changes because the KSA’s of those promoted as per their reviews were less than those moved.
Atlanta is a whole different world. I have been there many times, and lived there for a short time. I’d never move there permanantly the corruption or sheer stupidity is simply too obvious.
a reason never to work in Georgia…
Yes, it will take mistakes worth millions and millions of dollars to fire or demote a library director there (and possibly many other places as well.)
Believe me, I worked someplace other than AFPL and messed up stuff went on there too.
Newbie librarians beware, there’s lots and lots of bad management out there!
Re:Good Riddance to racist management
Check out the AFPL Watch website to understand the magnitude of what was going on. (http://www.afplwatch.com) Certainly it’s a biased source, but it’s probably the best collection of materials relating to the case. It seems to have been quite a wild, if torturous ride.
Also, Ms. Hooker has apparently cried racial discrimination herself not once but twice (in Atlanta, because she wasn’t black, in El Paso, because she wasn’t Hispanic). It’s interesting how the race card played out in this situation, although frankly, it seems to come down to personal vendettas/agendas vs. the good of the organisation/area served, at least from the various reports I’ve read.
Have any of you heard of Contrarian librarian?
It’s a Yahoo group, and it’s great.
Lot’s of poop on the behind-the-scenes at libraries, with an emphasis on public libraries.
It’s run by Xavier Bullwinkle, and I suggest newbies take a gander at it.