Library Board decides to use consultant to help in hiring director

After much discussion at a special, hour-long meeting on March 24, the Belleville Area District Library Board voted unanimously to hire consulting firm Hartzell-Mika for part of its process to hire a new director to replace Debra Green – and to first negotiate services tailored to Belleville’s specific needs.
A dollar figure on the agreement will be determined at the April 14 regular meeting of the board.
The board first voted to set aside and not use another consultant being considered, Bradbury Associates / Gossage Sager Associates of Kansas City.
Hartzell-Mika, located in East Lansing, had offered three specific tiers of service in a search for a library director, but the Belleville board had already accomplished some of the tasks presented.
The job description was posted March 17 and the deadline for applications is April 30. Salary is $75,000 to $80,000 with a competitive benefits package.
But, the board agreed it could use Hartzell-Mika to help with the final interviews, advice on what questions are legal to ask, and other details.
Board chairwoman Mary Jane Dawson volunteered to negotiate with Hartzell-Mika to get the agreement tailored to Belleville’s needs.
Secretary Joy Cichewicz said it should be mentioned to the consultant that experience in building a new library would be helpful.
The three Hartzell-Mika tiers of service were priced at $4,000, $4,500 and $4,500.
Barbara Miller said from the audience that it is very time-consuming to contact references and you have to be thorough and careful, so a consultant could help.
“Don’t niggle over $4,500 when the salary is $80,000, plus the benefits, and the person is in charge of a budget over $1 million,” Miller said.
“You don’t want to get a person who’s here for a year and then leave,” said board member LaChelle Reed Caver.
Director Green said that happens in libraries, where a director comes and then leaves and you get two or three before one settles in to be the final director.
Cichewicz agreed that they want to find somebody who would stay.
Board member Tonya Stoudemire suggested they could keep the cost of the consultant below $5,000.
Board members Stoudemire, Cichewicz, and Personnel Committee chairman Mike Boulter volunteered to meet with the consultants by phone or Skype to help set up the program.
Board member John Juriga was absent from the meeting.