A Brooklyn Librarian Is Fined for Promoting His Daughter’s Book

The line between a bookstore and a library seems to be a fine one.

For 39 years as an educator, Robert Grandt has been promoting other people’s books. So this year, when his daughter helped create a graphic novel of “Macbeth,” Mr. Grandt could not resist bragging a little in the newsletter he distributes as a librarian at Brooklyn Technical High School.

“Best New Book: Grandt, Eve, ‘Shakespeare’s Macbeth — The Manga Edition,’ ” he wrote under the heading “Grandt’s Picks.” He also placed a few copies of the book at a library display table, and posted a sign: “Best Book Ever Written.” If someone were interested, they got a book free.

But one person’s parental pride is another panel’s ethical transgression.

Oops.

On Monday, the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board announced it had settled a case it had brought against Mr. Grandt for promoting his daughter’s work. He agreed to pay a $500 fine and admit in a three-page stipulation that he had violated the city ethics code.

Three pages? Indeed. The document has 12 points, and has a two-page press release attached. Yikes! Who ever thought being a librarian exposes one to such criminality?

The New York City Charter warns public servants about taking actions in their official roles that benefit them personally, and the conflicts board is empowered to interpret the code and bring cases. Last week, for example, the conflicts board ruled that City Council members would not violate the charter if they were to vote to extend or abolish the term limits now scheduled to remove them from office.

Now, that's absurd. Politicians voting to extend their own terms in office are not in conflict? And a librarian has to pay 500 bucks for promoting his daughter's book? Wow, the law is a complicated thing, ain't it?









Mr.Grandt’sdaughter, Eve Grandt, co-illustrated a version of “Macbeth.” He said he was taken aback by conflict-of-interest charges. "I was just so proud of my daughter for writing it," he said.








Robert Grandt, a librarian at Brooklyn Technical High School, put his daughter’s book on display and mentioned it in a newsletter