Comments on: Was Carl Cephas’ Separation From the Library of Congress Overdue?

By: Video Vault’s Closing Leaves a Less Psychotronic Washington - Arts Desk - Washington City Paper

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 20:04:32 +0000

[...] a library technician whose suspension from the Library of Congress was chronicled by Arts Desk in November, wishes that the owners of Video Vault had found a way to keep it running, by raising [...]

By: carl cephas

carl cephas — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 04:54:43 +0000

It WAS the worst Christmas. I received my present from the LC telling me that of Dec. 30 2009, I no longer had a job.
Real classy LC.

By: carl cephas

carl cephas — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 13:52:27 +0000

This will be my worst Christmas, ever.

By: Myron

Myron — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:14:49 +0000

I worked with Carl when he was detailed on my project. He's a good dude and very smart and personable. I had no problems whatsoever. I don't know about any of this stuff but I do know there are people in the LC who can drive a person insane, not that Cephas is. But there are elements here who can make reality appear one way when it is actually just the opposite. Stay strong Carl. Keep the faith.

By: carl cephas

carl cephas — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 04:21:03 +0000

The LC needs to change their rules to reflect real time. A man should be able to meet his accusers and be able to defend himself.

By: DJ Paura

DJ Paura — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 17:07:54 +0000

@ Mike Riggs:

Don't you think now this is the forum to address the issues that have been left out of the article, considering there is an obvious interests in Carl's plight?

@ just Mike:

I completely agree with you. Although I am not privy to the inside information of LoC, 27 years is a long time to just can someone and screw them out of their benefits, unless, as I stated before there was some real threat or danger. If the LoC supervisors felt Carl was a disruptive force that hurt morale to a degree with other employees, then they should have at least forced him into unwilling retirement. Not strip away his pension and benefits in the process. This, I find to be criminal.

By: carl cephas

carl cephas — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:57:04 +0000

Thanks to both Mikes.

By: Mike

Mike — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:24:44 +0000

Carl and I have worked together at the library since 1984. We are also good friends. Around fifteen years ago Carl was our acting supervisor for almost one year. He applied for the position and didn't get it. They brought in a person from outside the LC to fill the position. We had to train this person. Slap upside the head #1. Not long after that he was accused of being on the verge of going postal. He was banned from the library until a investigation was completed. He was out of work for a week or so. The investigation turned up NOTHING!!! He was allowed to come back to work but they always had someone watching him. Just a few years after that another twisted and evil supervisor was hired and called him a trouble maker and treated him like a new employee that didn't know anything about his job. He had to go through training with three new employees and was told he could be fired if he didn't want to go along with the program.To make a long story short there are people here that just don't care for him and have been out to get him for years. He has been under stress and presure for years because of this. His health has also been a major issue for him. At some point a person can only take so much before they snap.The library could have handled this better. This is a man's life we our talking about here...twenty seven years or service and he get's treated like this....THIS JUST ISN"T RIGHT!!!

By: Mike Riggs

Mike Riggs — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:04:31 +0000

Carl: Re the trading cards, I was just working off the language in the LoC's report from that same year. Re the book: We'll amend that immediately.

As to the article being incomplete: We had to condense more than a decade of work history, personal anecdotes, and 70+ pages of documents from the LoC into just a few pages of text. Stuff always gets left out. I did my best to capture your side versus the Library's. If I could've included everything we spoke about in your interview, and everything the library recorded, I would've. Space simply didn't allow.

Best,
Mike

By: carl cephas

carl cephas — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:33:15 +0000

There are a zillion things that weren't faced in this article. Another one, is that I have been barred from even stepping on LC grounds. I must call in and get approval within 24 hours. Then, I get a police escort and I have only one hour to do any business. They've confiscated all of my personal belongings and have had them packed up somewhere.