Library Director Search to Begin Anew

After the fourth and last finalist for the job of county library director turned the position down last week, the Library Commission has called a meeting today to brainstorm new methods to recruit candidates.

The interim administrator of the Ventura County Library Services Agency said he will suggest shifting to “selective recruiting,” which means that county-hired consultants would be in charge of recruiting specific candidates.

“Before, we asked people to come to us,” said Richard Rowe, the interim administrator. “Now the focus will be on the consultants going out and finding people who maybe before were not in a position to apply.”

The last of the four finalists for the $72,300- to $103,000-a-year job, a library director from Connecticut, was chosen from among 40 applicants.

But after agreeing to an annual salary in the neighborhood of $96,000, the applicant and his family decided against leaving the East Coast, according to Rowe.

Under the previous recruiting system, consultants for the county sent a candidate profile brochure to libraries, counties and city agencies nationwide. As a result, 40 people applied for the job.

The consultants then interviewed applicants and selected 11. At that point, a screening committee--made up of of Rowe, Ventura City Manager Donna Landeros, Camarillo City Manager Bill Little and Fillmore City Manager Roy Payne--narrowed the field of candidates to four.

The top candidate pulled out after being offered a $12,000-a-year raise by her current employer, which ultimately topped Ventura County’s offer, Rowe said. The next candidate objected to having to report to the eight-member Library Commission and five county supervisors. The third, said Rowe, made unrealistic salary demands.

Supervisor Frank Schillo, who is also the commission chairman, agreed that a new tactic must be explored.

“We have to change the way we have been operating,” Schillo said. “Already, I’ve gone to the East Coast twice to interview people.”

Since the commission has spent nearly $25,000 on the recruitment, the consultants have agreed to continue with no further payment until a new library director is in place, officials said.

Schillo and Flynn said they will also suggest to their colleagues that the consultants limit their search to California residents.

“California is probably a better market for us,” Schillo said. “There’s less of a chance that people will have to uproot their families. That type of thing is always a traumatic situation.”

Rowe believes that an upheaval in the library agency earlier this year may have discouraged some people from applying for the position. The agency operates 15 branches in seven cities and several unincorporated communities.

In a wide-ranging restructuring intended to reduce administrative expenses, the agency cut 11 positions, a move that created negative publicity for the library agency.

But Rowe and Schillo both said the layoffs allowed the agency to increase library hours and fill shelves with more books and magazines. In 1992, the county library system had 133 full-time workers and an annual budget of $11.1 million. Today, the agency has 59 full-time workers and a $5.9-million budget.

“The worst is done,” said Schillo. “It’s not like someone will have to come in here and start hacking away.”

Rowe said the new director could, in fact, deal partly with the expansion of the library system, as well as building a strong relationship with city officials and moving the county support services from E.P. Foster Library to a new location.

“The baggage that the [library] system came with may have discouraged some prospective candidates,” said Rowe. “But now everything is on stable ground and no one is unhappy with the service. This is a good time to come in. The new director will have a lot of challenges.”

The Library Commission will meet in closed session at 6 p.m. today in the Camarillo City Hall Administrative Conference Room.