Embattled library district seeks interim director

Thursday, Feb. 5, 1998 | 10:57 a.m.

A subcommittee appointed to help the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District Board of Trustees find an interim director says it wants to hire someone with management and leadership skills.

The three-member panel said at the conclusion of a public meeting held Wednesday it will interview several potential candidates Wednesday and submit two names to the board of trustees Feb. 12 for consideration.

"We have had a lack of management and leadership. We want someone strong in those areas and someone experienced in dealing with unions," said Linda Penton Dougan, head of the subcommittee and vice chairman of the Board of Trustees.

Joining Dougan on the panel are board members Barbara Robinson and Moises Denis.

The search for an interim director began after Darrell Batson resigned under fire in early January.

Dissatisfaction with Batson, a few board members and upper-level staff personnel has been given as the reason for an almost unanimous decision by the library district's more than 270 full-time employees to join the Teamsters Union.

The board recently hired an outside management consultant firm to interview staff personnel in an attempt to get to the bottom of the complaints.

Many of those interviewed expressed concern over whether a firm being paid by the district would carry the message to the board of trustees.

Batson, who has been with the library district in one capacity or another for almost 20 years, was appointed interim director in 1993 after veteran director Charles Hunsberger resigned under pressure.

Named director in 1994, Batson is on paid leave while a settlement package is negotiated.

Regional administrator Monteria Hightower, who is highly respected among library staff members, was appointed acting director while the search for an interim director is underway.

Several staff members said Hightower should be named the interim director and should be considered as the permanent replacement for Batson if she shows she can handle the job while a nationwide search begins for a director.

The three members of the subcommittee said they have been talking to sources for possible interim directors since receiving directions from the board two weeks ago.

The biggest obstacle to finding an interim director, they noted, is the fact that it might be a job that lasts only six months.

Denis was going to submit two names as candidates but decided not to at the last minute.

"Based upon staff comments made here today, I won't recommend them. Mine are academic librarians," he said.

Staff members said they would prefer someone with experience as a librarian, not someone who has merely studied it.

Suggestions made by Robinson and Dougan included a candidate from Ohio and the local consulting firm of Fair, Anderson & Langerman.

One of those employed at the consulting firm is Carl Rowe.

Rowe was former executive director of the Las Vegas Housing Authority. He resigned in 1994 after a four-year stint that ended in controversy over issues of maintenance and security at a number of public housing complexes.

Hightower appears to be the overwhelming favorite of staff members.

She began her career as a library clerk in Los Angeles, worked as a branch librarian in Connecticut and was an institutional consultant in Maryland for the state Department of Education.

Hightower also was an assistant librarian in Washington, D.C., Washington state and in Missouri.

She began working for the Clark County Library four years ago.