The Prince George’s County (Md.) library trustees voted unanimously January 31 to place Director Bart Kane on a 30-day administrative leave while they conduct an investigation into his job performance. The Washington Post reported February 3 that Board President Rebecca Gitter confirmed the probe was underway. “There are some issues under investigation,” she said. “It’s a personnel matter and I can’t discuss anything while an investigation is going on.”
One incident under scrutiny is Kane’s alleged use of a racial epithet at an informal meeting of area library directors January 7. Three of the directors who attended the meeting wrote letters to Kane expressing their discomfort. Darrell Batson, director of Frederick County Public Libraries, told the Post he did not think Kane used the word “in a vindictive way. To me, it was a matter of poor taste.”
Kane was appointed director of the Prince George’s County Memorial Library System in Hyattsville, effective November 1, 1998. Earlier, as Hawaii’s state librarian, he was the center of a failed outsourcing agreement with Baker & Taylor and allegations of mismanagement that resulted in his dismissal by the state board of education.
Posted February 7, 2000.