After rumors spread over the weekend that Ethan Mann, director of the Levels Teen Center at the Great Neck Library, had been fired, Levels teens and their parents formed a protest at the library’s Parkville Branch Monday night.
“We are aware of the rumors and aware of protest rally but there is nothing to respond to,” Interim Library Director Chris Johnson said. “We had a confidential discussion with Ethan and we both decided that the discussion would remain confidential.”
Johnson would not elaborate on the nature of the discussion, and said that she could not discuss personnel issues.
Mann also declined to comment.
Ben-Zion Tartak, whose eighth grade son participates in Levels, said about 15 Levels teens and about 10 parents protested Mann’s firing with signs at Parkville Monday, under the impression the Library Board of Trustees had a business meeting. A Director Search Committee meeting was scheduled for the night, according to the library’s website, but Tartak said no trustees showed up at Parkville.
“It’s very hard to substantiate whether it is true or not,” Tartak said referring to Mann’s alleged firing. “It is very hard to get the board to be transparent about these things.”
Board President Marietta DiCamillo said she would not comment on whether Mann was fired or not, saying board members do not comment on personnel issues.
Library Trustee Robert Schaufeld, who received support in his 2014 election campaign from parents and teenagers who use the Levels program, also declined comment.
Former library trustee Ralene Adler, who ran unsuccessfully against Schaufeld, had told the Great Neck News that Mann had advocated for people to vote for Schaufeld. Adler had the support of DiCamillo and her sister Marianna Wohlgemuth, a north New Hyde Park civic leader.
A webpage called “Bring Ethan Back” was also created on change.org demanding Mann’s reinstatement.
As of Wednesday morning, 786 people had signed a petition on the website for Mann’s reinstatement.
“We believe Ethan Mann was wrongfully terminated from his position as Director of the Levels Teen Center and demand his reinstatement from the Library Board and Board President Marietta DiCamillo,” the webpage reads. “Ethan has long been an advocate for teens and young adults in this community, and the Board, which has continually and flagrantly bucked the collective voice of the taxpaying public, cannot fire a respected and beloved member of the community without explanation or consequence.”
“Ethan Mann’s patience and ability cannot be understated. Ethan is a teacher, mentor, and friend to every single person that has ever stepped foot in Levels. Without Ethan, Levels loses so much of its heart and soul. He, more than anyone else, makes Levels feel like a safe space for so many students, and needs to be an active member of the Levels community and staff, like he has been for the past seventeen years,” the page continued.
Attempts to reach Mann were unavailing. Calls directly to the Levels Teen Center were answered only by a voicemail.
Many of the petitioners were from Great Neck and other areas of the North Shore, but some had posted from as far as Wisconsin, Maryland and New Mexico, saying Mann, who has been head of Levels for 17 years, is irreplaceable.
Some who posted on the site had said that Mann’s firing was best for Levels, but most were in support of him. Many said that Mann was a mentor to them while they were struggling teens, that he was one of the most supportive people they have ever met and that he was trusted.
In August, about 100 teens and adults expressed concerns at a special board meeting that the library’s Main Branch renovation would result in drastic cuts to the Levels program. Trustees later said there would be no staff cuts to the program during the renovation.
Some resident who use the library have expressed their opposition to Mann in the past.
On a website for Great Neck Library Watchdog, criticism was waged against Mann in relation to his alleged roll in the recent library election in which Shaufeld won.
“Though Levels has not been an issue, the Levels director, Ethan Mann, contrived it as an issue in an attempt to assure his job security. The word spread by Ethan Mann and a Levels parent, Amy Levinson, and [Great Neck News columnist] Karen Rubin, an opinionated hack, was that the Levels budget, salaries and ‘programs’ (no, that’s not a typo) were being cut, and that Ralene Adler was, and would be responsible,” the webpage reads.
“The assertions were made, despite that there was no factual basis, and there are six other trustees who also get to vote,” the webpage reads.
The Watchdog group also opposed the original $20.8 million Great Neck Library referendum for the Main Branch renovations, which was eventually defeated.
Tartak said Mann is adored by all the children he had mentored.
“He was competent, wise and greatly beloved,” Tartak said. “You won’t find a person to say a bad word about him.”
