by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
The City’s search for a new library director is nearing its final chapter. The mayor’s office expects to hear the search committee’s choice within two weeks.
The mayor’s communications chief, Susie Wiles, said the new director should be in place to oversee the opening of the City’s new Main Library early next year. The hire will ultimately be the Library Board’s decision. But the mayor’s office will hold considerable influence because it decides how much the new director will earn.
The $116,000 salary paid to former director Ken Sivulich, is generally considered too low to attract candidates with the level of experience desired by the mayor’s office. Wiles said the eventual salary offered by City Hall would range from $110,000 to $150,000 annually, depending on the candidate.
The selection committee named 12 finalists for the job from 30 people who showed interest. Wiles declined to narrow the field any further, but said the City is looking for someone with experience running a major library system.
“We want a director that has managed a large, complex library system somewhere else,” said Wiles.
That appears to bode well for candidates like Barbara Gubbin, director of Houston’s public libraries since 1995; Mary Kaye Hooker, former director of Atlanta-Fulton County’s libraries from 1999 to 2004; Marcia King, former library director in Gary, Ind.; and Ophelia Roop, director since 1997 of San Bernardino’s public libraries.
A nationwide survey of directors showed their salaries climbing in a job market crowded with openings. The board believes the City will have to offer at least $125,000 annually and a recruiter hired by the City said the number could exceed $130,000. That’s in line with what the mayor’s office is projecting, although Wiles said the offer could reach as high as $140,000 for the right candidate. The survey showed Gubbin earned $107,000 two years ago in Houston, but Bradbury told the board that Houston is “notoriously low paying.” The survey showed Jacksonville’s $116,000 salary sitting slightly above the national average for similar-sized cities.
The recruiter, Dan Bradbury, Kansas City-based Gossage Sager Associates, has advised on the national salary market, but has left most of the deliberations to the City. Bradbury’s salary is pegged to the new director’s paycheck. He earns 25 percent of the director’s final annual salary.