Bronson administration changes library director requirements after criticism over appointees’ qualifications

After two contentious nomination fights over Mayor Dave Bronson’s appointees for Anchorage library director, the administration has changed the position’s required qualifications to provide broader latitude over who may be considered eligible.

The Bronson administration has twice put forward a nominee for the library director position, but the role remains unfilled. Neither of the candidates had the requisite credentials or work history outlined in the job description’s minimum requirements: One was rejected by a vote of the Assembly, and the other withdrew before a confirmation vote could take place.

Now, though, the minimum qualifications for the library director have changed.

Under the previous requirements, an applicant needed at least seven years of professional experience working in a library, along with a master’s degree in library science from an accredited program as well as three years in an administrative role inside a “moderate to large library system.”

But in a recent job posting for the position, the standards are less ironclad.

A master’s degree is still required, but the degree could be in library science, education or any “closely related discipline.” Ten years of supervisory experience is now requisite, involving a broad set of responsibilities like “managing staff,” “budget administration” and “providing service to multicultural communities.” But that also comes with a carveout that accepts “equivalent experience in a related field.”

The change to the requirements was initially reported on the left-leaning Blue Alaskan political blog.

Under the revised requirements, either of Bronson’s two earlier nominees — Sami Graham and Judy Norton Eledge, both retired educators with strong ties to conservative political causes who lost school board races this year — might technically qualify for consideration by the Assembly. Neither had extensive experience working in or directing a library.

The appointment of candidates without a library science degree or significant library experience drew criticism from Assembly members, library advocates and several residents.

“The appointment of an individual who does not meet the qualifications defined in the position description is comparable to the appointment of a police or fire chief without any prior police or firefighting training or experience,” the executive council of the Alaska Library Association wrote in letters of concern to the Assembly after Graham and Eledge were appointed.

The organization said that libraries differ significantly from other public institutions because of the mix of services and specialties offered in a system like Anchorage’s.

“While some of the skills required to provide innovative leadership to an organization of this type may be transferable from a public school context, our association is concerned that a director without any prior experience working in libraries is not an appropriate choice to lead Alaska’s largest public library system,” the library association’s executive council wrote.

Bronson administration officials have disputed that the qualifications laid out in the original job description were binding.

Graham’s nomination was rejected in a 7-4 Assembly vote in August. Eledge served in the job in an acting capacity, then resigned in November before any confirmation vote happened.

According to Bronson spokesman Corey Allen Young, the changes were made “to broaden the pool of qualified candidates.”

“The Human Resources Department maintains and updates classification specifications with input from the Department and the Administration,” Young said.

Some of the requirements for the library director position were adopted nearly two decades ago.

In 2002, during a political skirmish centered on libraries under then-Mayor George Wuerch, the Anchorage Assembly passed a resolution that the “Municipal Librarian should, at a minimum, have received a (master’s degree) in Library Science” and have “at least four years professional experience in the management of a library or library system at an executive level.”

“The debates relating to confirmation of Sami Graham demonstrate that the Assembly hasn’t changed its policy,” said Assembly Vice Chair Christopher Constant.

“We will likely have a work session to ask the administration why they made these changes,” Constant said.

The salary range for the library director is $71,390-$126,073 with a robust benefits package.