The Trustees of the Derry Public Library will spend the next two weeks sifting through resumes, in order to find the best person to replace former Library Director Cheryl Lynch.
Elizabeth Ives, chairman of the Derry Public Library Board of Trustees, said the application period ended Wednesday, July 31.
The search has produced about two dozen candidates to follow Lynch, who retired June 1.
“The committee will read the resumes and set aside the ones we think are viable, and we’ll set up interviews,” Ives said.
The trustees are seeking a person with a master’s degree in library science and a minimum of four years administrative expertise in public libraries, as well as demonstrated supervisory experience and experience in developing and managing a budget, which currently stands at $1.17 million.
Ives expressed surprise at the geographical reach of the applicants. Though the Trustees advertised only in New England, they received resumes from Florida, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York and Pennsylvania, she said.
Ives theorized that the applicants found the idea of working in Derry attractive, or even more so, the idea of working at the Derry Public Library. One candidate from Massachusetts drove up on her day off and visited the facility incognito. “We got a letter yesterday,” Ives said, “telling us that her visit made her decide to apply.”
The position has been advertised on library industry Web sites and at schools such as Simmons College, where Master of Library Science degrees are offered. Ives said they kept it regional, noting that, “It is very expensive to use the American Library Association site.”
But if no suitable candidate appears from the July 31 applications, she said, the Trustees will go national with their search until the perfect person is found. They thought they had one in Assistant Director Susan Brown, who is doing the Director’s job until someone is hired. The Trustees approached Brown more than once about taking the job permanently, but she said no, Ives said, adding, “She likes what she’s doing now.”
