by Mark Lyons
special to The Current

The Library Search Committee held the final of three meetings with visiting candidates for the vacant position of University Librarian on February 9.

"We are hopeful that our committee will make its recommendation soon so that an appointment can be made by the end of the semester," said Jerry Durham, a committee member and dean of the College of Nursing.

The committee's findings will be presented to Central Administration for a final decision.

The field of candidates, which began with 30 respondents to an ad placed by committee members in library trade journals, was narrowed to ten before being further cut to the three finalists: Dr. Sylverna Ford, Joyce M. Davis, and James Huesmann.

The committee has narrowed its choices based on information from the candidates and the established goals of UM-St. Louis.

The committee members will not comment on the specific candidates until after the official recommendation is released; however, the qualifications seen as paramount have been public since the position was announced.

"We are looking for an experienced leader in an academic and/or research environment," Durham said. "We are concerned that our librarian should have experience in electronic access to information, have participated in consortiums with other libraries, and we would prefer some experience in fundraising as well as experience in managing a staff."

Dean of the Graduate School, Douglas Wartzok, who is also associate vice chancellor for Academic Affairs, was concerned mostly with how the candidates would deal with impending cuts to the library budget. "Graduate education and research are an important part of library use," Wartzok said. "We wanted people with forward looking ideas about how to deal with the rapidly increasing cost of journals. Our library will probably have to cancel $500,000 in subscriptions in the next year. I was very interested in hearing how the candidates would deal with this problem, other than by canceling subscriptions."

Aside from those criteria, the only prerequisite for the position is an M.L.S (Masters in Library Science degree). All three finalists have an M.L.S.

Sylverna Ford, who has a doctorate in Library Science from the University of Pittsburgh, has been the CIO and dean of Information Services at Minnesota State University and has been responsible for an operating budget of $6 million since February of 1998.

Prior to that, she held a similar position at the school's previous incarnation, Mankato State University, where she handled a $3.5 million budget for three years. Her other experience includes CEO of the Oakland Library Consortium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and assistant director of University Libraries at Carnegie Mellon University.

James Huesmann received his M.L.S. from the University of Tennessee. He also holds an M.A. and B.A., both in history. His experience includes USIA Library Fellow, San Jose, Costa Rica; Librarian for Automated Systems, Linda Hall Library, Kansas City, Missouri; and Technical and Automated Services Officer at the Linda Hall Library.

Huesmann has extensive experience teaching on-line research techniques, and can program in seven different computer languages.

Joyce N. Davis received her M.L.S. from the University of North Carolina. She also has a Master's in Divinity degree from Duke University as well as two years of seminary training.

Davis' most recent experience is at the University of Pittsburgh, Johnstown where she served as director of Library Services. She was responsible for all operations including budget, building and renovation, strategic planning, and fundraising. Prior to Johnstown, Davis was director of Library Services at Catawba College as well as a professor of library science.

University Librarian is the new title for the position of Director of Libraries, which has been filled on an interim basis by Sandra Snell since former Director Joan Rapp left to take a library consultancy in South Africa.

Durham feels that the Search Committee now has the information it needs to move forward.

"We have reviewed the candidates. All of the interviewers have had the opportunity to meet with the candidates. Committee members were invited to have lunch with the candidates and to observe them in meetings with faculty. All who participated in the interview process have been asked to evaluate the candidates. Those scores will be tabulated and our recommendation will be made soon," Durham said.