Four people have been chosen to be interviewed for the Central Arkansas Library System executive director position out of 14 who applied.
The Transition/Selection Committee met for more than three hours Thursday to review the applications. It chose to interview a Floridian and three Little Rock applicants before making finalist recommendations to the Central Arkansas Library System board of trustees next month.
The board will make the final decision after a more in-depth interview process with the finalists.
The semifinalists who will meet with the committee are:
• Adam Brooks, director of libraries and community services in Hernando County, Fla.
• Nate Coulter, an attorney at Millar Jiles LLP in Little Rock.
• William Jeffs, senior vice president and wealth management lending adviser at Regions Bank in Little Rock.
• Haley Lagasse, head of public services and the system's main library in Little Rock.
Brooks has been director of the Hernando County, Fla., library system since 2011. He supervises 48 full-time employees at nine locations. His library experience dates to 2002. He has worked in Texas and Florida, serving in several roles.
He has a master's degree in library and information science from Kent State University.
Coulter is known in the political circle in Little Rock. Before his current job, he served as a partner in the Wilson, Engstrom, Corum and Coulter law firm for 19 years. He graduated from Harvard Law School.
He served as assistant legal counsel to then-Gov. Bill Clinton and was the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor in 1993, though he lost that race.
Jeffs has served in management roles at Regions Bank since 2008. He has worked as an executive in the banking 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.
Lagasse has worked in the Little Rock-based library system 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.
The winning candidate will replace Executive Director Bobby Roberts when he retires early next year after almost 27 years on the job.
Roberts said Thursday that the candidates' interviews with the transition committee should be completed by October and then the committee will make its recommendation to the full board.
"They may say 'all four look good, we will send all of them to the board of trustees,' or they may say 'we'll just send three or two.' I wouldn't think they'll send any less than two," Roberts said. "Then the board will have more extensive interviews. We'll set up a reception with staff, the general public, and let them spend time with the board and the people who report to me."
There are 11 people serving on the selection committee -- seven board members, one library system staff member, a retired deputy director, a resident and an attorney.
The committee's interviews with the candidates will be open to the public and will be announced once they are scheduled.
Metro on 09/18/2015