NEWS RELEASE

The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) today announced the members of the MBLC Director’s Search Committee, which will assist with the hiring of the next director of the Board of Library Commissioners. The Committee is chaired by MBLC Commissioner Jan Resnick. The search begins after Dianne Carty announced her impending retirement in May 2017. She has been director since May 2014, and previously worked as the Head of State Aid at the MBLC.

The next director of the agency will be tasked with continuing the Strategic Planning process started under Carty, and overseeing the upcoming Massachusetts Public Library Construction Program grant round. Additionally, the next director will need knowledge of both the State and Federal budgets which help to fund MBLC’s programs and services, and will need to work closely with MBLC’s partner organizations, the Massachusetts library community, and members of the Massachusetts Legislature and Executive Cabinet.

“The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners was the first state library in the nation, and has a history of strong leadership” said Board Chair Mary Ann Cluggish. “I am confident that this committee will present the board with qualified and dynamic candidates and I look forward to finding a final candidate who can lead the agency to a new chapter in its history.”

The Committee’s duties will run from January 2017 through April 2017, and will include reviewing candidate’s applications, conducting preliminary interviews, and selecting up to five finalists to be presented to the board. After the committee completes its work, The Board of Library Commissioners will hold interviews of the finalists recommended to them at an open Board meeting, and will select the new director based on those interviews.

The committee membership is made up of experienced library professionals from across the Commonwealth and Rhode Island. The members are:

·         Jan Resnick, Vice Chair, Board of Library Commissioners, Search Committee Chair

·         Roland Oschenbein, Secretary, Board of Library Commissioners

·         George Comeau, Board of Library Commissioners

·         Deborah Conrad, Administrator, SAILS Library Network

·         David Leonard, President, Boston Public Library

·         Greg Pronevitz, Executive Director, Massachusetts Library System

·         Molly Fogarty, Director, Springfield Public Library

·         Shelley Quezada, Consultant to the Underserved, Board of Library Commissioners

·         Karen Mellor, Chief of Library Services, Rhode Island Office of Library and Information Services

·         Charlotte Canelli, Director, Morrill Memorial Library, Norwood

Cover Letters and Resumes will be due to the board in early February, and candidates who are selected for preliminary interviews will be contacted between February 13^th and 17^th. In person interviews with the committee will take place between March 13^th and 17^th, and the committee will select up to five finalists to send to the Board on April 7^th. The Board will conduct final interviews in early April, and will select a final candidate by May 4^th. More information about the position and the hiring timeline can be found here.