Residents check out Marion Library Director finalists

MARION - The three finalists for the Marion Public Library director position met with residents Monday night, individually selling the audience on why they're the best person for the job.

The finalists are: Elsworth Carman, manager of library experiences and initiatives at Oak Park Public Library in Oak Park, Ill.; Mary Jordan, an assistant professor at the Simmons College School of Library and Information Science in Boston; and Tyler Williams, a reference manager and senior librarian at a public library in Wichita, Kan.

The eventual hire will oversee the library board's proposed multimillion-dollar, mixed-use library expansion, a topic of heated debate in the community. It dominated the majority of the discussion at the forum.

The library board will interview the final candidates Tuesday and make a decision within the next week.

Carman called the proposed library project exciting, saying he'd open the doors further to public input.

'The building project coming up is so exciting for the community and library. It could change the course of action for Marion and change the way business is done in this part of the state,” Carman said. 'The public must have input into those changes to make sure they're made appropriately.”

Jordan said the director could help the community develop a plan for the library's future.

'I think your new building sounds really fun. It sounds exciting,” Jordan said. 'But that's only part of it. It's one of the tools we can use to make the library more connected to people. At the heart of it all is service.”

Williams emphasized the importance of working with local businesses and schools to become a part of people's everyday lives. He said in Kansas he experienced pushback from the community over a library expansion, a similar position Marion is in.

'No matter where you are, there's going to be those people, and they'll make good arguments,” he said. 'The biggest challenge is making sure we have an overarching idea. We know why we're here, and we know why we need the building and we need to be able to communicate that to the public.”

He added: 'It's not going to be an easy next few years, but I've been there and I think I'm the person to usher you through it.”

The job listing calls for a leader to move forward with the library project, a $28 million mixed-use facility with retail and residential components, of which the city is estimated to contribute $10 million. The salary range is $86,000 to $106,000, and the position requires a candidate with a master's degree in library science and a minimum of five years of public library experience, three of those years in a supervisor or administrative position.

The new director will succeed Doug Raber, who has been with the library since 2011.

The candidate forum, hosted at the library, was organized by Bradbury Associates/Gossage Sager Associates, a Kansas City firm hired by the city for $18,000 to conduct the search.