Belleville PL Supervisor Fired
after Dispute with Employee
The Belleville (Ill.) Public Library board fired its supervisor of reference and adult services October 2, less than six months after dismissing the library’s director. Both actions were abrupt, but there is no apparent connection between them.
Michele Bruss—allowed only 15 minutes to clean out her desk October 2 while the locks were being changed on the building—was dismissed because she revealed confidential information about another employee during a dispute, Board President Cherie Reeser told American Libraries. Director Mary Agnes Schlather was fired in a similar way last May; the board has never explained that decision, and she has never commented publicly on it. A new director has not yet been appointed.
Reeser told the October 3 Belleville News-Democrat that she didn’t think the vacancies would affect operations at the library, which serves a population of about 43,000. “Everything will be just fine,” she said. “That was all taken into consideration when the decision was made” to fire Bruss.
Posted October 9, 2000.
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