Christopher Lindquist of the Westfield Athenaeum and Sharon Sharry of the Greenfield Public Llibrary were chosen from 6 applicants from 5 states.
Christopher Lindquist, left, director of the Westfield Athenaeum, and Sharon Sharry, right, library director at The Greenfield Public Library, are the finalists to become director of the Jones Library in Amherst.AMHERST – The directors of the Westfield Athenaeum and the Greenfield Public library have been named the finalists to run the Jones Library.
Christopher Lindquist of the Athenaeum and Sharon Sharry of the Greenfield library were chosen from six applicants from five states, according to a release from the Jones Library Board of Trustee president Sarah McKee. “The finalists were by far the best candidates for the Jones Library,” she wrote.
The board wants the community involved in the selection and has scheduled two public meetings as well as a day and a half of meetings, tours, and second-round interviews for the candidates.
Sharry will visit July 21 and 22, with a public presentation July 21. Lindquist will visit July 26 and 27 and meet the public July 26.
The public presentation topic is “Do We Still Need Public Libraries? Aren’t Community Centers With Computers Enough?”
The board will provide community feedback forms at the presentations and an online form will be available at http://www.joneslibrary.org. All public feedback will be considered by the search committee, according to the release.
Bonnie J. Isman was the library director for more than 30 years before her retirement in December. Trustees hope to have a permanent director in place by Sept. 1. The annual Jones Library budget is $2.1 million, and it circulates more materials than any other library in Western Massachusetts, according to the library budget report. The system includes the Jones Library and two branches.
The Director Search Committee will meet July 29 to talk about its choice and a recommendation will be made to the trustees Aug. 2. The trustees are hoping to have the next director begin work by Sept. 1.
The Jones Library longtime library director Bonnie J. Isman retired Dec. 10 after 30 years. Since then Tevis Kimball, curator of special collections, has been acting director.
Besides McKee and Kimball, the search committee includes trustee Austin Sarat; Tony A. Maroulis, executive director of the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce; Lucy McMurrer, president of the Friends of the Jones Library and Matthew Berube of the Jones library staff.