The Forest Park Public Library will elect a new librarian on December 3rd, but it won’t be official until December 19th.
Former library director Pilar Shaker resigned on October 28 after serving six years. River She-Quin, the former director of the Forrest Public Library, is serving as interim director, and the Library Board has worked with Chicago-based Deiters & Todd to find a permanent replacement. The Board has now narrowed it down to two finalists and will make the final selections at a special meeting on December 3rd.
According to a Nov. 8 Deiters & Todd memo, 17 candidates applied, and the company narrowed the list to 12. The company then interviewed these candidates from his November 8th through November 10th, and he narrowed the list down to six.
“The overall quality of those applicants is exceptional,” said the memo. “Never before have so many applicants told us that Forest Park was their first/best library job and the first managerial experience of their career.”
At its October 17 meeting, the Board formed a Search Committee. This committee includes Board Chair Brooke Sievers, Trustees Eboni Murray and Keeley Bramwell, Adult Services Manager Sky Rabin, and Patron Services Manager Claudia Her Corgin. On November 14th and 15th she held two special conferences, at each conference she interviewed three candidates, and she further narrowed the field down to two finalists. The meeting was closed to the public.
At its November 21st meeting, the Trustees agreed to make a final selection on December 3rd. Sievers said finalists will have her seven to nine questions crafted by the board.
Staff members will also have the opportunity to speak with the finalists during the December 3rd session. According to Deiters & Todd’s notes, consultants will interview members of staff to get their impressions and conduct straw her surveys to see which finalists the majority prefers. The memo emphasizes that while the information will help the trustee make decisions, it is not binding.
Mr Sievers said he would like as many board members as possible to attend.
“The goal is to find a clear winner that we want to negotiate with and make that decision at the end of the day,” she said. ”
According to the memo, once the board has decided on a candidate, the library will draft an employment contract and conduct a final background check.
Since the Board cannot vote in closed sessions, the Trustees must actually approve the recruitment of candidates. The memo says it will be held at its regular board meeting scheduled for December 12th. The adoption will take effect in January 2023.
Quinn’s contract runs until the end of February 2023. This was set up to aid migration.
