School Librarian Fined For Promoting Daughter's Book

Posted on October 29, 2008

Robert Grandt, a librarian at Brooklyn Technical High School, was fined $500 by the school board for promoting his daughters book, Shakespeare's Macbeth, at the school library and giving out free copies of it to those who seemed interested. Grandt also mentioned his daughter's book in a newsletter. The New York Times describes how the city's Conflicts of Interest Board went after Grandt for violating the city ethics code.

The Times article goes on to describe how the city's Department of Investigation arrived at the school in June to ask him about the book and then in August Grandt received a letter saying he could "lose his job and be stripped of his teaching license." Grand even felt he had to remove his daughter's book from the library.

An editorial in the New York Daily News says Grandt is owed an apology. The editorial says it "would be astonishing if Grandt's action boosted his daughter's royalties by even $5." The editorial also says, "And wouldn't it be nice if the board applied the same zeal to officials who brazenly play around with hundreds of thousands of dollars."