NAACP questions library system's hiring practices
By SCOTT DAUGHERTY, Staff Writer
Published 05/29/11
ANNAPOLIS--The county chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People last week publicly asked County Executive John R. Leopold to review the hiring and employment practices of the Anne Arundel County Public Library System.
Reiterating a request she made privately earlier this year, chapter President Jacqueline Boone Allsup asked Leopold to investigate why so few African Americans and other minorities work for the system. She noted only 31 African Americans and five Latinos work at the county's 15 libraries, which employed 395 people last fall when the statistics were compiled. While African Americans comprise almost 17 percent of the county's population, they make up less than 8 percent of the library system's staff.
"African-American taxpayers and citizens must be assured that their tax dollars are not subsidizing discriminatory employment practices," Allsup said in a statement released Friday. "We do not intend to have our government add insult to injury by using our tax dollars to discriminate against people of color."
County and library officials said Friday they were aware of the NAACP's concerns. While they are trying to answer Allsup's overriding question of how the libraries got to this point, both David Abrams, a county spokesman, and Hampton "Skip" Auld, the library's administrator, said they were more interested in looking forward than back.
Abrams noted that Leopold directed the county's Human Relations Commission last month to work with the library's board of trustees and the NAACP to improve diversity at the libraries.
"It appears to me the library is cooperating and trying to address the issue," he said.
Auld added that his staff has been working on a "Workforce Quality and Diversity Action Plan" since he arrived in the county in November. He said the plan is currently being reviewed by the county Office of Law, but should be reviewed and voted on June 16 by the board.
"We take this matter very seriously and are committed to attracting and retaining the most qualified employees representing a range of racial, ethnic and cultural backgrounds," Auld said in an email. "The Workforce Quality and Diversity Plan places an increased emphasis on and will strengthen our efforts to move the library staff closer to reflecting the diversity of the population we serve."
That said, Auld said he sees no evidence of discrimination in the library's hiring practices. He noted that three of the county's 15 branch managers - 20 percent - are African-American. He said minorities make up about 12.5 percent of the library's current staff of 391.
Auld pointed out that African Americans represent only 4.2 percent of nation's credentialed librarians, citing data from the Office for Diversity at the American Library Association. Non-hispanic Caucasians represent 85.9 percent of librarians holding masters' in library science degrees.
Thirty-one of the library's 34 upper-echelon positions - including branch managers - require such a degree, Auld said.
Complaints filed
The NAACP started looking into the library's hiring practices last fall, after two current employees filed formal complaints with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Maryland Commission on Human Relations, Allsup said.
Interested in what was happening, NAACP members met last October with Nancy Choice, the library's then-interim administrator and now-chief of public services and branch management.
A subsequent review of staffing data provided by the library system prompted Allsup to send a letter March 3 to Leopold seeking a formal investigation of the library's hiring practices.
"There could be some problem there," she said Friday in an interview, explaining why she asked for the review.
Allsup received a letter last month from Leopold's office indicating her complaint had been forwarded to the county Human Relations Commission. Concerned that the commission was misinterpreting her request, Allsup decided last week to send Leopold a second letter and make it public.
"We are not interested in having you ... look into the individual complaints that have been filed but rather to address the broader systemic issue," Allsup wrote in a letter, which was sent Thursday to the county executive, the county council and members of the media.
Allsup announced plans Friday to file additional request's for demographic breakdowns in the future, explaining the NAACP wants the county to audit the hiring practices of its other agencies and ensure that they are adhering to federal, state and local employment laws.
Auld said Friday they were still in the process of defending against the discrimination claims. He called the claims "without merit."
"As administrator, I can state unequivocally that (the library system) will never discriminate based on religion, national origin, race, color, s*x, or any other class protected by federal, state, or local law," said Auld, pledging to "always hire and promote the best-qualified applicants for positions" while still keeping an eye on diversity.
"We will recruit broadly and encourage any and every interested person to apply and bring his or her talents, skills, experience and knowledge to serve all the people of Anne Arundel County," he said.
Posted By: Siebra Muhammad
Sunday, May 29th 2011 at 2:32PM
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