One of the decisions made by a Board of Trustees that has the most significant impact on a library and its community is hiring the director. The skills needed to solicit and evaluate an effective pool of candidates include:
- Understanding the knowledge, skills, abilities required for a successful library director
- Experience with framing and selling the library to appeal to the strongest candidates
- Knowing the best websites, job boards, and listservs to solicit talented library director applicants
- Possessing a nuanced comprehension of the library landscape in order to effectively evaluate a candidate’s experience
- Knowing the library director market to make appropriate salary recommendations and help the Board of Trustees prepare a compensation package to get their first choice candidate