Apropos Bibliothek ...
Die
Providence Community Library hat ihren Bibliothekar Tom O'Donnell gefeuert, als Grund wird der schwammige Begriff Insubordination ((Arbeits)verweigerung) angeführt.
Warum ist das hier von Interesse?
Weil sich Tom O'Donnell massgeblich für die Organisation zahlreicher Star-Wars-Veranstaltungen eingesetzt hat, mit denen ein grosses Publikum in Bibliotheken gelockt wurde; seien es Lesungen oder auch Blutspendeaktionen fast immer unter Mitwirkung der 501st.
Die Kündigung von Tom O'Donnell stösst bei allen an diesen Aktionen Beteiligten auf grosses Unverständnis, wobei vor allem die Frage beschäftigt, worin denn nun Toms Insubordination bestand – was nun auch dazu geführt hat, dass sich der gute, alte Ryder Windham, der sich ebenfalls stark bei diesen Star-Wars-Veranstaltungen engagiert, ordentlich ins Zeug legt, um Tom zu helfen.
So besuchte er zusammen mit Mitgliedern der 501st die Vorstandsitzung, und bat mit folgenden Worten darum, die Kündigung nochmals genauer zu untersuchen:
I’m Ryder Windham and I write Star Wars books. I do a lot of work with the 501st Legion, an international non-profit organization of Star Wars costume enthusiasts. As you can see, three members are with me tonight. We've done many events at Providence libraries to entertain children, promote reading and blood drives, and every one of these events has brought dozens of families to the libraries.
All these events were organized by Tom O'Donnell, who was fired from the Rochambeau Library just over a week ago. We're not here to ask the board members to explain why Tom was fired, as I understand that’s confidential.
These 501st members, ... , are here tonight because they know Tom O’Donnell too. Tom did not ask us to come here. That was my idea, because I wanted you to see… Tom’s friends include Darth Vader.
I have no idea whether the board is even aware of the work Tom has done with 501st Legion and me, but if you’ve attended any of the Star Wars events, I hope you’ll confirm we attracted hundreds of people to Providence libraries, and we did it free of charge. And I want you to know none of those events would have happened without Tom.
..., the Account Manager from the Rhode Island Blood Center, sent me a letter, praising Tom for his work on the blood drives at the Rochambeau branch. I also have a letter of praise from ..., the Publicity Manager from DK Publishing. Last month, DK Publishing sent me to the American Library Association’s Midwinter Conference in Seattle so I could meet with librarians from across the country, and I told them how Tom O’Donnell has been instrumental in using Star Wars to attract families to libraries.
All the 501st Legion and I have asked for in the past is a small room for 501st members to change into their costumes. Tonight, we're asking you to investigate why Tom was fired, because many people think the world of Tom, and we can't imagine he was fired for a valid, logical, rational reason.
If you won’t do this for us, I respectfully ask… Why should I volunteer for more events to bring families to libraries in Providence? Why would my friends and I encourage anyone to go to a library in Providence?
Please investigate why Tom O’Donnell was fired, and if you find the reason questionable and insubstantial, we hope you'll offer him his job back. Thank you.
Mittlerweile gibt es auch die Facebook-Seite
Friends of Tom O'Donnell die sich Tom einsetzt – wer auf FB ist, sollte mal reinschauen, ist ganz spannend, die Sache weiter zu verfolgen.