New Fort Vancouver Regional Library District director takes reins

That led to a job at the Laramie County Library System in Wyoming, where she was manager of youth and outreach services for 10 years.

Her background as a children’s librarian was reflected in the setting of a recent conversation with Shelley, on the third floor of the Vancouver Community Library at 901 C St. The Early Learning Center, she said, was a reminder of her first library experiences of giving the right book to the right child at the right time.

Shelley has been on the job since October, using that time to get acquainted with the 4,200-square-mile district. Shelley said she wanted to give herself six months “learning about the communities, and what the staffs want to change and improve.”

Jane Higgins, who chairs the board, says the trustees like what they have seen. Higgins said that staffers tell her, “When I get here she’s already here. And I’m early getting to work.”

The board saw one aspect of that during the interview process, Higgins said.

Does her homework

“She did an incredible amount of homework. We sent her information and she asked for more. She is very focused,” Higgins said.

Shelley came to Southwest Washington after eight years in Colorado as executive director of the Garfield County Public Library District. She led a system with branches in six cities and towns. Shelley described the district, about 70 miles northwest of Aspen, as a region of rural and resort communities.

“I was interested in an opportunity to move to a very different district,” she said.

While Fort Vancouver covers a lot of ground — 15 library facilities in 12 communities across three counties — the district’s biggest share of patrons live in and around the fourth-largest city in Washington.

There are some familiar notes in her transition. In Garfield County, Shelley oversaw a $28 million campaign that built new libraries in all six communities from 2009 to 2013.

Shelley came to Fort Vancouver with community-based efforts underway to build new libraries in Washougal, Ridgefield and Woodland.

“I have been in those three communities, learning about their library needs,” she said.

A big goal in each city is finding a location for the facility. Shelley said she hopes to have some news on that front soon.

In addition to her own move, Shelley is seeing a transition in her line of work. A recent Associated Press story reported on the decline of walk-in traffic at America’s library buildings as online options become more popular.

That trend is reflected locally, both regionally as well as at Vancouver Community Library, which draws about a quarter of the district’s visitors. Foot traffic at the downtown Vancouver branch dropped from 574,019 in 2013 to 537,372 in 2014; it rebounded last year to 538,219.

However, Shelley said she isn’t concerned that there will be a declining need for brick-and-mortar libraries — even a downtown landmark that’s 83,000 square feet.

It’s not about today

Shelley helped design an even larger library — 103,000 square feet — in Cheyenne, Wyo., a city of about 63,000.

“It’s not just about today,” Shelley said. “It’s important, when you have the opportunity, to build for the future. This building allows us some room for growth.”

Since the library opened in 2011, an area for tweens has been added, Shelley said.

Higgins was on the board of trustees in 2006 when Vancouver-area voters approved a $33 million bond to build the library, supplemented by a $5 million donation from Jan and Steve Oliva. Higgins said she doesn’t feel they overbuilt.

“I don’t think so. A library generally is a 50-year-facility,” Higgins said. “As Vancouver expands, we might be wondering if it’s big enough.”

In addition to providing materials, libraries provide programs, Higgins said. “If our programming is useful, we can overfill the room.”

Shelley succeeded Nancy Tessman, who retired in September after about three years as executive director. Shelley will earn $145,000 a year. That’s what Tessman would have made if she hadn’t declined an across-the-board raise given to all district employees; Tessman earned $135,000 a year.

The contract does not have a defined time period. The trustees or the executive director can end the contract at any time, Higgins said.