A PowerPoint presentation by the C.H. Booth Director Search Committee brought new library board members up to speed on the process and evolution of the committee since the beginning of the year.

The committee, made up of board members Michael Talluto, Bob Geckle, Colleen Honan, and Pete Stern, along with staff representative Kim Weber, community representatives Joan Petersen and Christine Stowe, as well as Bethel Library Acting Director Lynn Rosato, is currently scheduling interviews with five candidates from 19 resumes received as of May 9. The committee will continue to solicit and review new resumes received.

“We are clear about our mission,” Mr Talluto stressed, which is to offer the board the most qualified candidates for a new library director.

Mr Talluto said that the committee hoped to complete the second interviews of the five candidates selected to date, as well as complete reference checks on them, by the end of May. They would like interviews by the entire board of trustees with qualified candidates to be completed by the end of June, and hope that a new director could be announced by the end of July. This timeline, Mr Talluto said, is subject to change.

The presentation elicited few questions from the board.

Brief reports from other board committees followed Mr Talluto’s presentation, with Tom D’Agostino reporting that certain tree trimming and removal projects were needed, along with plant replacement. The board voted to allow Mr D’Agostino to spend up to $2,500 for maintenance needed immediately.

It was agreed by the board that a special meeting might need to be called for August, a month the board normally does not meet, due to the hiring process of a new library director. It would not be prudent, members suggested, to possibly have a new director hired the previous month and not be available in those critical first weeks.

The board members were encouraged to register for the Freedom of Information workshop, held in conjunction with town employees, May 20, before adjourning.

Regular meetings of the C.H. Booth Library Board of Trustees are open to the public. The next meeting is scheduled for June 10, at 7 pm, in the Meeting Room of the library, 25 Main Street.