To the Editor,

A tornado of outrage has swirled through this town in the wake of the ill-conceived firing of Andrea Zimmerman, one of Newtown’s most highly regarded research librarians.

Andrea, to many of us, is a rather special jewel and a great asset to our library as well as to our entire town. It is disgraceful that the current library board has stood meekly by while an overzealous, newly hired director created havoc in this bereaved community.

At the very least, every effort should be made to win Andrea Zimmerman back to her position which should include a substantial pay raise and a job description worthy of her abundant talent.

If the current crop of library directors cannot understand that Andrea’s forced exit is intolerable to library patrons, donors and taxpayers, then perhaps we need to demand a change of representatives on a board that seems insensitive and unresponsive to our community’s needs and prerogatives.

Sincerely,

Paula M. Hopper

Former member, C.H. Booth Library Board of Directors

131 Boggs Hill Road, Newtown                                    September 18, 2013