Resident says library hires do not meet state librarian certification requirements

Karen Powerhand, who identified herself as a resident at 3421 Hilltop Trail, addressed the board during public comment and challenged recent library hiring and reconsideration practices.

Powerhand said the children’s librarian manager’s employment application lists school-focused roles (media specialist and classroom teacher) rather than public-library experience and that the young adult librarian holds no state library certificate. She cited county job descriptions that list a master’s in library and information science as a requirement for those librarian positions and said the positions carry titles that, under Georgia law, require certification.

Powerhand cited what she said were relevant state provisions and guidance in arguing the county is not meeting legal and professional standards: she referenced O.C.G.A. 20-5-56 and O.C.G.A. 43-24-4 (as read in public comment), asserting that those statutes require certification for persons holding the title of librarian and prohibit employing a person in a librarian position without a librarian certificate. She also criticized the library’s reconsideration letters under new leadership as formulaic and lacking written criteria or applied analysis, describing a shift from previously documented reviews in 2024 to more one-sentence conclusions in 2025 and 2026.

Powerhand urged the board to restore and follow documented professional standards in hiring and in reconsideration decisions. The board did not provide a substantive response during her five-minute comment period; the chair interjected once to ask her to wrap up.

Powerhand also said since September 2024 the library system lost eight certified librarians and that six certified librarians remain on staff; she argued certified librarians currently are not being utilized in reconsideration processes as the library’s policy requires.

The board did not take action on library staffing or certification at the meeting.