Librarian fined $500 for saying nice things about his daughter's book
Dale says: "A silly decision in NYC to fine a librarian for saying nice things about his daughter's illustrations for a book, a manga edition of Macbeth."
For 39 years as an educator, Robert Grandt has been promoting other people’s books. So this year, when his daughter helped create a graphic novel of Macbeth of which he was mighty proud, Mr. Grandt could not resist bragging a little in the newsletter he distributes as librarian at Brooklyn Technical High School.Librarian fined $500 for saying nice things about his daughter's book“Best New Book: Grandt, Eve, Shakespeare’s Macbeth — The Manga Edition,” he wrote under the heading Grandt’s Picks. graphic novelMr. Grandt’s daughter Eve did the artwork for the graphic novel “Shakespeare’s Macbeth: The Manga Edition.”
He also placed a few copies of the book at a library display table, and posted a sign: “Best Book Ever Written.” If someone was interested, they got a book free.
But one person’s parental pride is another panel’s ethical transgression.
On Monday, the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board announced it had settled a case it had brought against Mr. Grandt for promoting his daughter’s work. He agreed to pay a $500 fine and admit in a three-page stipulation that he had violated the city ethics code.
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