Trustees need to carefully determine the qualities, knowledge, and skills that they expect their next director to possess. From the candidates’ point of view, the size of the community served by the library, the qualifications of its staff, the depth of library funding, and the location and status of the library will all be of great interest. The goal of the board is to match their criteria for the “ideal director” with the candidate whose experience, skills, and interest in the community result in the best possible fit. The public expects a smooth transition to new leadership, and that the board will hire the best possible candidate for the job while using public funds judicially to secure such a candidate - a daunting task, indeed! For tips on this process, view this Webjunction webinar with resources attached: Navigating the library director hiring process: A guide for trustees and boards.
Boards of municipal libraries must abide by the process set out in the municipal code or they may need to work with city authorities to clarify the roles and procedures that will be followed when hiring the library director. Advisory boards may make recommendations to their governing authority throughout the hiring process, but do not have the authority to hire - that is in the hands of the governing authority.
As stated above, trustees must ensure that the hiring process complies with all applicable federal and state laws, regulations, policies, and procedures such as:
- Not discriminating against qualified applicants on the basis of sex, race, creed, color, religion, age, marital status, most handicaps, and country of national origin.
- Using questions at interviews that fall within legal parameters.
- Meeting all open public meeting and public records requirements.
- Handling requests from candidates regarding confidentiality.
Steps for Hiring a Director
- Consider whether the Board will use an executive consultant to assist with the search and recruitment process.
- An executive consultant will assist the board with the search and will provide screening services as defined in a contractual agreement.
- Appoint an interim director.
- Appoint or hire (temporary) an individual who can carry out the duties and responsibilities of the director and pay them a commensurate salary.
- Announce the interim appointment to the community, to library staff, and to other libraries.
- Be sure to provide the interim director with the assistance needed to carry out operations and services. It is usually necessary to hire temporary staff to assure that services do not suffer due to the absence of the interim director from daily library operations.
- Assess the library and its current needs.
- Conduct an exit interview with the departing director:
- What are the strengths and successes of the library programs and staff?
- What key activities and priorities would best contribute to future successes?
- What knowledge, skills, and abilities should be added to, or removed from, the current library director’s job description?
- What needs to work better?
- Gather opinions from library users and non-users:
- How successful is the library in presenting library services that meet community needs and interests?
- Is the library keeping pace with technology?
- Does the collection meet community expectations and needs?
- What segments of the community use the library?
- What segments of the community do not use the library and why?
- What are community’s priorities for library programs?
- Draft a job description.
Work with your organization’s human resources specialist who is usually the person responsible for drafting job descriptions. Job Description Components - Library Director offers some suggestions for content.
Tip: Look at positions currently being advertised. Sites to explore include the following:
Current data about public library funding, including salaries and benefits, may be found in the annual online publication from the Washington State Library, Washington Public Library Statistics. Information about employee benefits may be found in the EBRI Databook on Employee Benefits. Economic data for Washington, including pay and benefits may be found on the Western Information Office (Washington) page from the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. The bottom of this page also provides a number of tools, including one for Inflation.
- Prepare information that will accompany the job description.
Include:
- Information about the library and the community it serves such as:
- Current description of the community.
- Library mission statement.
- Strategic plan for the library.
- Any anticipated significant trends or changes.
- Application deadline.
- Request for resumé and references.
- Release form that allows the library to check references of former employers and/or personal references.
- Any other pertinent information.
- Establish a search committee.
Even though there may be highly qualified applicants among current library staff, it is good practice to conduct an external search in order to select the best person for the library. Internal promotion is a very desirable goal, but it should be balanced with the added value of outside expertise.
- Determine the search process:
- The board as a whole may constitute itself as the search committee, drawing in representatives from staff, local officials, Friends of the Library, foundation members, citizens, local librarians who will regularly work with the library director, and others.
- The board may appoint one or more of their members to chair a search committee that includes representatives noted above. The committee will usually recommend the top candidates to be interviewed by the board as a whole.
- The board may contract with a consulting firm to carry out the search and structure the interview process, again involving staff and community. Some boards decide to accept the recommendations of the consultant and proceed directly to interviews. Others may decide to collaborate with the consultant to evaluate the candidates and select interviewees.
- Create a timeline, defining critical dates and responsibilities.
- Determine criteria that will be used in the initial screening of job applications and how applications will be scored.
- Develop the evaluation form to be used during interviews to rate the candidates.
- Develop policies for:
- Reimbursing candidate travel, lodging, and per diem expenses during the interviews.
- Reimbursing successful candidate for relocation costs.
- Determine how the job will be structured:
- Decide if the new director will be offered a contract or an open-ended agreement.
- Determine the length of the probationary period. —Note: Legal counsel should be included in the discussion and in preparing any contracts.
- Create a budget for:
- Search committee costs.
- Any consultant fees.
- Advertising costs.
- Reimbursing candidate travel, lodging, and expenses during interviews.
- Relocation costs for successful applicant.
- Advertise the position.
Advertisements should include:
Positions may be advertised in a number of ways, including the following library-specific job sites:
- Job qualifications.
- Salary range.
- Description of the community served by the library.
- Application deadline.
- Request for any accompanying documentation, such as references, resumes, required certifications, etc.
- E-mail address, URL, or mailing address for submission of applications.
- ALA JobLIST
- Library Jobs from the Association for Rural & Small Libraries (ARSL) (for rural libraries or libraries serving a population under 30,000).
- INALJ (I Need a Library Job jobs eResource center).
- Job Zone from Library Journal.
- Library Works.
- Pacific Northwest Library Association (PNLA) Jobs.