Update: Library Director Who Wanted Summer Reading Contest Champ to “Step Aside” is No Longer Employed By Library

UPDATE September 20: Veteran Library Aide Who Spoke Up Also Fired (via NY Daily News)

[Library aide Lita] Casey spoke up on behalf of Tyler Weaver, a 9-year-old who has won the library’s summer reading contest for five straight years. He’s won a T-shirt, an atlas, a water bottle and several certificates of achievement. This year, he read 63 books in just six weeks.
But library director Marie Gandron, wanted to change the rules to end the child’s winning streak. Gandron reportedly said the boy “hogs” the contest and should “step aside.”
Instead of making it a competition, the director shared plans to pull the winner out of a hat.

Casey had worked at the library for 28 years.
See Also: Second Hudson Falls library worker loses job in wake of reading program controversy (via Glenn Falls Post-Star)
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Here’s an update to a story we (and MANY others) shared about a month ago.
From the Glenn Falls Post-Star:

Controversy over the kids’ reading contest at Hudson Falls Free Library appears to have been the final chapter in Director Marie Gandron’s career there.
Library board of trustees President Michael Herman confirmed Friday that Gandron no longer works at the library, although he would not say if she quit or was fired.
[Clip]
WTEN-TV in Albany followed up on the story and interviewed Gandron, who told broadcasters she had been “misquoted” and “taken out of context.” [Meg] Hagerty [the Post-Star reporter who interviewed Grandon] had transcribed an audio recording of her interview with Gandron, however.

Read the Complete Article
Includes comments from the mother of reading contest champ.
Update 9/20: The library board has confirmed that Marie Grandon is no longer employed by the library.
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See Also: Public Library Director Wants Summer Reading Club Champ To Step Aside, He “Hogs the Contest” She Says (August 19, 2013)
Hat Tip: Matt Weaver

Filed under: Interviews, Libraries, News, Profiles, Public Libraries