The public will have a chance to inform the Hartford Public Library CEO-selection process on February 22nd via a forum where the three finalists will make presentations and then answer questions asked by the audience. The library’s Board of Directors plans to announce its selection by March 1st. The previous CEO, Matt Poland, left his position at the end of 2015.
The finalists are Luren E. Dickinson, Molly Fogarty, and Bridget Quinn-Carey.
Dickinson currently serves as the director of the Shaker Heights Public Library in Shaker Heights, Ohio — a town with a population under 30,000.
Fogarty has been serving as director of the Springfield City Library in Massachusetts since 2010. This tenure has not been without controversy. In 2013, Fogarty announced her plan to close two of the library’s branches, with city council opposing this decision in a non-binding resolution. She cited the health of the city’s library system as a whole for this plan. Ultimately, one of the branches shut down entirely, while another was reopened as an “express” branch which is open for 14 hours each week, compared to the 45 hours per week that the central location is open. Hours at other branches were increased and Fogarty claimed in the press that library use dramatically increased since this restructuring.
Quinn-Carey has been serving as Interim President and CEO of the Queens Library in New York since 2014. She came to Queens from Buffalo in 2011 as Queens’ Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. The change in position came about when then former CEO was fired. The New York Times in July 2015 reported that Quinn-Carey was also implicated in an audit. The Queens Public Library is now suing the former CEO, after the CEO had sued the library. With Quinn-Carey also named in the comptroller’s report — though her spending was not as egregious as the former CEO’s purchase of Maroon 5 and Disneyland tickets using taxpayer dollars — there are questions about what baggage might follow her from Queens.
After Matt Poland announced in June that he was resigning in six months, the Board of Directors received 29 applications for his replacement. The chance to ask questions of these three finalists will be from 5:30-7 p.m. in the Center for Contemporary Culture at Hartford Public Library on Monday, February 22.
Christopher Brown
Geez, was a controversial past one of the job requirements?
“Question three: Please describe any current or recent embroilment. How might you adapt said embroilment to Hartford’s specific needs?”
Regarding the 26 that didn’t make the final round, my curiosity is strong, if a bit morbid.
Kerri Provost
Same thought. Who *didn’t* make the top tier?
It could be argued that the Springfield candidate shows some ability to resolve a problem and essentially compromise. . . but I’m not sure what argument can be made for Queens. I know she’s said that this issue is in the past, but it’s still getting press and sounds ongoing. “In the past”, in my mind, is a mistake made decades ago that has been completely rectified.
Justin
They’ll be in good company, that’s for sure.