Update: Three library director candidates up for interviews today

Three potential library director candidates are scheduled for interviews 10 a.m. today by Douglas County Public Library trustees.

Trustees are expected to start their day with a half-hour briefing to go over the rules for the interviews before wading into talking to the candidates at 10:30 a.m.

Library director candidates are Tim DeGhelder, Colleen Kilbreath and Debra Greenacre.

• DeGhelder has been director of the Paris, Texas, Public Library since June 2020 after returning from a position as an English teacher in Thailand from July 2018 to March 2020. He previously served as branch manager at the St. Charles City-County Library District for 16 years. He holds masters degrees in public policy administration from the University of Missouri and library science from the University of Maryland.

• Killbreath was library director in Stanton County, Kan., Public Library from 2017 through January, according to her resume. She is also a part-time bookkeeper. She pursued a masters degree at Ohio State University but didn’t finish. She received a bachelors degree in education from Bowling Green State University in Ohio.

• Greenacre has been director of the Manistee County, Mich., Library since November 2017. She holds a masters of library and information science from the University of Wisconsin and a bachelors degree in elementary education from Northern Michigan University. She also served as library director in Dolores, Colo., for three years.

Library trustees are scheduled to deliberate on the candidates at 2:10 p.m., though depending on how quickly the interviews go, that may be earlier.

Each candidate will have an opportunity to make an opening statement and then trustees will have an hour to ask questions.

Recruiter CPS HR said they received 18 applications with a dozen meeting the minimum qualifications. Three withdrew from consideration and of the final nine, four were eliminated and the remaining five were referred to library trustees.

The agenda lists a fourth candidate, but no information was included in the background material and there isn’t a slot for an interview today.

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Virtual interviews for a new director of the Douglas County Public Library are scheduled for Wednesay.

Instead of flying candidates out for a meet and greet and initial interview, the library board has opted to expand the process, Library Board of Trustees Chairwoman Heather Martin Maier said last week.

“We have decided to add a step to our recruitment process,” she said. 

“Instead of moving straight on May 3-4 to a meet and greet and in-person interviews to meeting on May 4 on Zoom interviews, which may include a wider group of candidates then the three finalists we had spoken about before.”

The 10 a.m. interviews will be open to the public, but will not be streamed for public viewing, according to the agenda released on Friday morning. Library trustees meet at the Minden Branch, 1625 Library Lane in Minden.

Martin Maier said she anticipated no more than five candidates for the Zoom call.

After that, the board of trustees will conduct in-person interviews on May 13 followed by a meet and greet for the public on May 14.

The library director position pays $97,000 a year not including benefits, interim Library Director Christine Vido said. 

Library trustees approved a $25,000 contract with search firm CPS HR Consulting in January to find a new director after an attempt to fill the position only resulted in one candidate in October.

Trustees reset and started over again. 

In Nevada, the library director, like county managers and superintendents are public officials. By working through a search firm, initial applications remain confidential until the final group of candidates is ready to meet with the public.

The names of the candidates should be released with the back-up material for Tuesday’s meeting. The library has been without a director since summer 2021. Interim Director Julia Brown served until April 15 when she resigned. 

When she took the job, Brown was clear she didn’t want the permanent position. She received the board’s thanks for her service.