Fourteen people have applied to replace Bobby Roberts as executive director of the Central Arkansas Library System.
Roberts announced in February that he will retire early next year after almost 27 years at the helm of the library system, which operates 14 libraries in Pulaski and Perry counties. The cutoff date to apply for the position was noon Friday.
Applicants are:
• William Betz of Conway, special events and annual giving coordinator at Youth Home Inc.
Betz is also the founder of the Little Rock Kickball Association and the Big Red Ball Charitable Foundation. He used to be a writing and English professor. He has a master's degree in professional and technical writing from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and a graduate certificate in nonprofit management from that university.
• Adam Brooks of Florida, director of libraries and community services in Hernando County, Fla.
Brooks has served in his current role since 2011. He supervises 48 full-time employees at nine locations. His library experience dates to 2002. He's worked in both Texas and Florida, serving in roles including reference librarian, branch manager and library director.
Brooks has a master's degree in library and information science from Kent State University.
• Paul Charton of Little Rock, associate at Catlett Law Firm.
Charton obtained a juris doctorate from UALR's William H. Bowen School of Law. He's been in his current position since 2000. Before that, he was a legislative assistant to a U.S. congressman and a manager of political affairs at a beef association in Washington, D.C.
Charton said he would seek a master's degree in library science if hired.
• Nate Coulter of Little Rock, an attorney at Millar Jiles LLP.
Before 2012, Coulter served as a partner in the Wilson, Engstrom, Corum and Coulter law firm for 19 years. He graduated from Harvard Law School and has a bachelor's degree in art from Harvard.
Coulter played a role in politics in the late 1980s and early 1990s, serving as assistant legal counsel to then-Gov. Bill Clinton and going on to become the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor in Arkansas in 1993, though he lost that race.
In his cover letter, Coulter said his strengths are his commitment and willingness to listen to and learn from others.
• Steve Clegg of Texas, library director of the Benbrook Library District.
Clegg has served in his current position since last year and was the assistant director for three years before that. He was director of another Texas library from 2004 to 2011.
Clegg has a master's degree in library and information science from the University of North Texas and a master's degree in interdisciplinary studies, with a focus in international relations, from the University of Texas at Arlington.
• Stephen Dawson of Little Rock, vice president of strategic initiatives at the Heritage Company.
Before his current role, Dawson taught at universities and a high school academy in Arkansas and Tennessee. He has a master's degree in political science from the University of Arkansas.
• Ben Goodwin of North Little Rock, assistant director at Our House Inc. homeless shelter.
Goodwin started at Our House in 2007 as a grant writer. He has a bachelor's degree in politics, philosophy and economics from Oxford University and a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Hendrix College.
• Rebecca Hammond of Beebe, service representative at the Office of Child Support Enforcement.
Hammond has a master's degree in library media and information technologies from the University of Central Arkansas. She was the library director of Beebe Public Schools from 2002 to 2009.
• William Jeffs of Little Rock, senior vice president and wealth management lending adviser at Regions Bank.
Jeffs has worked in management roles at Regions since 2008. He has worked as an executive in the bank industry his entire career, dating to 1975 in New York. He has a bachelor's degree in business from the College of Saint Rose in Albany, N.Y. He also has attended management and banking-related institutions in New York and Ohio.
• Haley Lagasse of Little Rock, head of public services and the Main Library in the Central Arkansas Library System.
Lagasse has worked at Little Rock libraries since 2009. Before that, she worked at libraries in Jonesboro and Wynne.
She has a master's degree in library and information studies with a concentration in public libraries and youth services from the University of Alabama. She also has a bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary studies from Arkansas State University.
• Tina Murdock of Pine Bluff, regional library director of the Faulkner/Van Buren Regional Library System.
Before taking on her current job in 2013, Murdock worked as a manager or librarian at the Dallas Public Library for 12 years. Before that, she worked at various theological seminaries and Bible colleges as a music and English teacher.
Murdock has a master's degree in library and information science from Louisiana State University and a master's in English from the University of Kentucky.
• Timothy Dale Savage of Arizona, continuing education consultant at the Arizona State Library's archives and public records division.
Savage has a master's degree in library science from the University of Arizona and a master of arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin. He has worked at libraries in Arizona since 2005. He was also a graduate student librarian at the University of Texas at Austin in the mid-1980s.
• Erin Waller of Benton, director of the Saline County Library System.
Waller has worked at libraries in Arkansas since 2007 and has been in her current role for six years. She previously worked at a school of library and information science in Mississippi and at a bookstore in Tennessee. She has a master's degree in library and information science from the University of Southern Mississippi and a bachelor's degree in English from Henderson State University.
• Kelvin Watson of New York, interim vice president of information, technology and development at the Queens Borough Public Library in Queens, N.Y.
Before his current job, Watson worked at the National Agricultural Library in Maryland for three years. He started in the library business in 1997 in Tennessee. He also was a commissioned infantry officer in the U.S. Army for three years in the mid-1990s.
Watson has a master's degree in library science from North Carolina Central University and a bachelor's degree in business administration from Lincoln University.
The Central Arkansas Library System's board has appointed a committee to come up with a process and timeline for selecting the new director, but nothing has been determined yet. Roberts previously said he would likely retire around the end of February.
Metro on 09/08/2015