Library identifies four finalists for executive director

By Justin Wier | October 5, 2017 at 12:05a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

Four finalists for executive director of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County will participate in a public forum at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Austintown Library at 600 S. Raccoon Road.

The finalists are Michelle Alleman, director of the McKinley Memorial Library in Niles; Patricia Crosby, assistant director of the Pickens County Library System in South Carolina; Aimee Fifarek, deputy director of information technology and digital initiatives at the Phoenix Public Library in Arizona; and Maria Gebhardt, manager of integrated marketing communications and social media for Broward County Public Schools in Florida.

Gebhardt previously spent a decade working for the Broward County Library.

Library spokeswoman Janet Loew said the response to the candidates has been favorable.

“There are a few more steps in the process,” she said, and the forums will allow the community, library staff and the trustees to take a closer look at the candidates.

The board of trustees plans to schedule a special meeting Wednesday to review candidates and possibly make a selection.

The position became vacant when Heidi Daniel left in July to lead the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore. Former finance director Susan Merriman has served as interim director since Daniel’s departure.

Bradbury Miller Associates brought the candidates to the search committee. In June, the library board approved a $20,000 contract with Bradbury Miller to lead the search for Daniel’s replacement.

Daniel had a salary of $114,240 when she left.

Allenman currently earns $60,777, and Fifarek earns $94,244.

Salaries for Crosby and Gebhardt were not available at press time.

Among the challenges facing the new director will be the planned consolidation of the Brownlee Woods and Struthers branches, the creation of a new branch in Campbell City Schools’ Activity, Recreation and Cultural Center, and the renovation of the main library at Wick and Rayen avenues in Youngstown, with an estimated cost of $15 million.