New Knoxville Interim Director
Greeted with Boos
A crowd of nearly 100 protesters booed and voiced their opposition to the August 26 vote of the Knox County (Tenn.) Public Library Board that appointed longtime trustee Charles Davenport as interim library director. Davenport, who had resigned from the board the previous week after serving since 1987 as its president, replaces Patricia Watson, who is retiring September 6.
Opposition to Davenport has been strong both in the community and among library staff at least since the board’s last meeting in July, when more than 50 observers came to protest the actions of the library director search committee, a group Davenport had nominated. The committee decided not to advertise the position nationally, limited candidate interviews to one hour each, and dropped a requirement for administrative experience, according to the August 25 Knoxville News-Sentinel. Davenport has experience as librarian at Carter Middle and Gap Creek Elementary schools in Knox County.
Former board member Margo Akerman said in the August 27 News-Sentinel that “more than 17 years of political gamesmanship by Charles Davenport resulted in his interim appointment,” alluding to the fact that he had unsuccessfully applied for the job in 1985. Businessman Wayne Pritchard called the 4–3 vote a “slap in the face” to Watson, who the previous week had offered to stay on as interim director if asked.
The board also voted to reopen the search nationally and require extended candidate interviews. In the meantime, several Knox County commissioners intend to petition the state legislature for a change in the way library board members are appointed.
Posted September 2, 2002.
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