RIDGEFIELD — Amelia Shelley, executive director of a county library system in Colorado, is the choice for new executive director of the Fort Vancouver Regional Library District.
Shelley has been executive director of the Garfield County Public Library District in Rifle, Colo., since 2007.
Fort Vancouver’s board of trustees made the announcement Monday night during the August meeting in Ridgefield. The vote wasn’t quite an appointment: It gave the board the go-ahead to negotiate with Shelley on details of the contract, including compensation, so the actual appointment is down the road.
The vacancy was created when Nancy Tessman announced she is retiring after three years as Fort Vancouver’s executive director.
Shelley was among three finalists who visited last week for a series of meet-and-greet events, as well as interviews with the board.
The other finalists were Peter Bromberg, associate director for public services, Salt Lake County Library Services, based in West Jordan, Utah, and Jon Worona, San Jose (Calif.) Public Library division manager.
After Monday’s vote, board chair Jane Higgins called the final selection “extraordinarily difficult.”
However, trustee Todd Yuzuriha described the experience as “an exhilarating time for our library district.” He noted that Shelley is an executive director, which means she would be moving into a comparable position at Fort Vancouver.
Shelley oversaw a $28 million capital effort that built six new library facilities from 2009 to 2013. Shelley also had to deal with a funding shortfall a few years ago because of a change in Colorado’s tax policy.
“I saw in her an ability to solve tough problems,” Yuzuriha said.
A national search drew 16 qualified candidates. The trustees’ search committee interviewed semifinalists via Skype and narrowed the field to the three finalists.
‘Great funding here’
In a Q&A that was part of an Aug. 10 public session in Vancouver, consultant June Garcia asked each finalist why they applied. All three indicated that they are happy in their current jobs, but this opportunity was too good to pass up.
Shelley said that quality of life is a big part of the job’s appeal.
“I want something outside the job,” she said at last week’s session in Vancouver. That means a chance to be active, as well as an opportunity to be involved in the community.
“We live in the Colorado Rockies,” she said, so it would take something comparable to get her to leave.
Fort Vancouver has an advantage in one key area. “There is great funding here,” she said. That makes it attractive to someone who had to cut her district’s budget a few years ago.
The executive director oversees a 4,200-square-mile district that includes 12 community libraries and three library express/library connection locations.
Tessman earns $135,000 a year.
