NATION : Library Open for Governor’s Son
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The wife of Republican Gov. John Ashcroft had the state library opened on Mother’s Day so her 12-year-old son could do research for a school report.
Ashcroft said Tuesday, “I was in church, with my other son,” when his wife opened the library for her son Andy on Sunday. Asked if he thinks it was unfair for his son to enjoy the privilege, he said: “I don’t know, I wasn’t there.”
Janet Ashcroft and Andy, a seventh-grader, spent more than two hours in the library used primarily by the executive and legislative branches of government. It is normally open only Monday through Friday.
State Librarian Monteria Hightower said that after she unlocked the library’s doors on her day off Sunday, an unidentified library staffer remained in the building while the Ashcrofts were there from 5 p.m. to about 7:30 p.m.
“We don’t do homework assignments for children,” she said. “It is odd. When the services are closed, they are closed.”
The employee will not be paid for the Sunday work, Hightower said.
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