Board members of the Jackson (Mich.) District Library reneged March 26 on an offer to hire Bruce Daniels as library director, less than a month after unanimously selecting him as their top choice for the post.
The board told the Jackson Citizen Patriot that the decision was made because Daniels had given the impression on his resume that he was still working as director of the Onondaga County (N.Y.) Public Library when in fact he had resigned last September 30. The resignation followed an arrest in April on charges of lewd conduct, after which Daniels pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and was fined $250 (American Libraries, Dec. 1997, p. 20).
Board members said the change of heart was based on the misinformation on the resume, not on the arrest. However, at an earlier meeting they had also reported that references had been checked prior to the offer. Following his resignation from Onondaga, Daniels had been retained as a consultant; he is also treasurer of the American Library Association for a four-year term ending in 2000.
Posted April 13, 1998.