Perhaps "fired" is the incorrect word, since she was a volunteer for the past eight years on the library board -- the last two as its chairman. Prior to that she had served, without compensation, as a leader of the Friends of the Bethel Public Library. Her principal goal during this time was to see that the renovation of the old library was brought to a successful completion. She has devoted hundreds of hours to this mission, only to end up being dismissed by Mr. Burke. He described her efforts to raise the approximately $3 million needed as "ineffective." Anyone involved with the Bethel Public Library knows that this accusation is ridiculous. Mr. Burke and his political handlers did not reappoint her or Trisha Lewis, the now outgoing vice chairman, simply because they are not members of what now claims to be the Bethel Republican Party. Bethel residents who voted for Mr. Burke in the last election should remind him that it was not a mandate to exclude or humiliate people who have devoted their time and efforts to the betterment of our community.