Carnegie Public Library board members have been formally asked not to supervise or question library employees about day-to-day operations unless there is an evident emergency.
The board voted on this during executive session of the Tuesday, June 15 meeting and the move is aimed at providing distance between board members who may have micro-managed and intimidated library employees in the past.
"The decision was made that board members will not have any conversations with employees and basically all discussions will happen through the executive director and not directly board members to employees unless it's an emergency situation,” said board attorney Ted Connell following the meeting.
Mary Caradine is the interim executive director of the library. She took the position following Floyd Council’s resignation in April.
If Caradine is gone, she would designate a contact person to deal with the board in the event of an emergency.
"Use your common sense on what would be an emergency,” Connell said.
Connell said an emergency situation would be at Caradine’s discretion.
Caradine came out of retirement to fill the interim executive director’s position. She told the board it had a year from when she came on to secure a new director, but no official timetable has been set.
The hiring process for a new executive director has not taken place yet.
Events at the Clarksdale Carnegie Library took center stage earlier this spring with the resignation of Library Director Floyd Council, who had been in that post less than a year.
Several meetings by the board, most in executive session, saw the board challenge the authority of board president Shelia Winter. The board also discussed grievances from library employees against Winters in executive session in May. Employees were advised to follow the seven-step process in the personnel manual.
Board member Jennifer Joyner proposed amending the bylaws so the board could recommend to remove a board member for things such as abusive behavior and interference with management. If the board voted to recommend a board member’s removal, the matter would be brought to the Clarksdale Board of Mayor and Commissioners or Coahoma County Board of Supervisors.
The board tabled discussion of advertising for a new executive director with a salary range for the Carnegie Public Library until the June meeting for legal reasons, but no information or direction was discussed in open session.
Carnegie Public Library is open 50 percent capacity. It was previously at 25 percent capacity. Wearing masks is required, there are sanitation stations in place and social distancing is also being practiced.
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