There’s a new petition on line looking to get two Greenville library employees reinstated to their jobs after the now-famous Drag Queen Story Hour at the Five Forks Branch got intense media coverage.
Some 50 letters from library employees showing support for both Newton and Phillips and voicing concern about the direction of the library were hand delivered to each of the library system's board of trustees before a recent meeting.
The petition says that the employees involved did their jobs, followed state law, library policies and American Library Association (ALA) ethics, in order to ensure that First Amendment rights and equal access were protected, while enduring hate mail and hostile treatment by patrons. It claims the library system acted to damage the careers of some of its most respected managers and trusted employees.
The petition asks they be reinstated, the library apologize and that Executive Director Beverly James be dismissed. No reaction thus far from the library system.





