Robert Grandt made one really big mistake. He was just too darn proud of his kid. The librarian at a Brooklyn, NY, high school not only donated his daughter's version of Shakespeare's MacBeth to the school's library, but (wait for it), he told kids it was one of the best books of the year. And the problem is?
Grandt, a former high school social studies teacher and now one of three librarians at Brooklyn Technical High School, was called to the principal's office in June and asked about the free books he made available to kids who asked for them. An illustrated copy of the Shakespeare play that features heavily on English language arts curriculums at high schools across the country was Grandt's daughter's first to be published. Eve Grandt was actually one of two illustrators on the job. Adam Sexton is listed as its author.
Two months after the visit to the principal, the city said he would be stripped of his job and fined $1,000. For giving kids books. About MacBeth.
This week, Grandt's punishment was reduced to paying a $500 fine. He was forced to sign a three-page document admitting he violated New York City's ethics code. The city's "charter warns public servants about taking actions in their official roles that benefit them personally," according to an interview with the New York Times. Grandt said he wasn't selling the books, he was handing them out for free. He even donated one to the school's collection. In fact, if someone saw his little bit titled "Grandt's Picks" in the newsletter he distributes as school librarian and decided to buy a copy somewhere, his daughter would have benefited from about 20 cents in royalties.
I'm sorry, I just don't see the harm here. He didn't charge the school money for the book. He didn't hide the fact that they have the same last name. A dad brags about his kid. It's what dads do (good dads anyway). And kids got a more palatable version of a boring book (sorry, I'm more a Hamlet girl - give me Mel Gibson any day). Isn't that a librarian's job?
Image: New York Times
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