PORT TOWNSEND — The selection of a new Port Townsend Library director, a position vacant since midsummer last year, is in its final stages, with two finalists selected Wednesday from four candidates who participated in a multifaceted interview process.
The names have not been released.
City Manager David Timmons was scheduled to interview the two finalists Wednesday and is expected to offer the job to one of them later this week, according to Pam Kolacy, city human resources director, who added that the name of the new director could be announced early next week.
The four candidates include three from Washington state: Keith Darrock, 37, Port Townsend Library technical services manager; Melody Sky Eisler, 34, the Silverdale Library branch manager; and Jennifer Fenton, 42, training coordinator for the Washington State Library in Olympia. The fourth is Maggie Snow, 42, youth services manager for the Anoka County (Minn.) Library.
The salary range for the position is $72,500 to $90,000.
The four semifinalists were selected from a field of 19 applicants to fill the position that has been vacant since July 2013, when Theresa Percy took early retirement.
She left after Darrock filed a workplace complaint saying she had advocated passage of a proposed $3 million bond issue for library renovation while on office time.
Since Percy’s retirement, director duties have been assumed by Bev Shelton, a former Port Townsend Library director.
On Tuesday, the four candidates interviewed with three separate panels consisting of city staff, stakeholders and elected and appointed officials.
They also attended a public reception at the Carnegie Library on Tuesday afternoon where they gave short statements and answered questions from about 30 attendees.
Comment cards were collected with the information used in choosing the two finalists, Kolacy said.
Results of Tuesday’s session were reviewed by Timmons, Kolacy and facilitators from each panel, Kolacy said.
All of the candidates said libraries are moving beyond traditional models and embracing technology, stating they are poised to manage that change.
“This is a really unique time for public libraries as they seek to balance traditional services with technical and digital content,” Darrock said.
“This is a wonderful, unique opportunity for us.”
Fenton said she has served as the digital literacy manager in her current job.
“This is something that I’m passionate about,” she said.
“Libraries are in a state of transition.
“I know that it has not been easy here, but it is a beautiful library that is supported by the community, and it has so much potential.”
Snow noted that Port Townsend “is very much dedicated to lifelong learning and education, and there is a vibrant arts community here.
“There are multiple ways where the community supports artists, authors and students in their learning process.”
Snow, who works for a library in the Milwaukee suburbs, said, “There is something that one can appreciate in a smaller community that some of the larger systems I’ve worked in lack.”
Said Eisler: “I’ve never seen a community that is so engaged and involved in their library.
“This is an exiting time for libraries, when they are looking at becoming these incredible dynamic spaces that bring people to create and build their community.
“This has been an exciting experience for me today, and I am honored to meet the people who treasure their library.”
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.