Final Four Candidates Chosen for Waukee Library Director

The pool of candidates for Waukee library director has been narrowed from 20 applicants to four, according to the Des Moines Register.

Brian Hughes, library board president, told the Register every candidate has a connection to Iowa. 

The newspapers said the four finalists are Amy Birtell, Michael Davis, Barbara Shultz and Jacob Speer. Hughes said in-person interviews are planned for Aug. 9 and 10 and the seven-member board can have its say.

Hughes said a decision should be made by Aug. 13, but that could change.

“If, ultimately, we decide that one of these people is not the right candidate, then we’re willing to take more time,” he told the Register.

The position was open after Erik Surber was fired as library director board member last April. 

Our earlier Patch article: 

City officials have clarified the timeline of former Waukee Library director Erik Surber's departure from the city.

The library board voted on April 1 to terminate the contract of Erik Surber, who had been on the job since September 2011. In an interview with the Des Moines Register, Surber disputed that account, and said he offered to resign before the meeting.

After being contacted by Patch, Councilman Shane Blanchard, who serves as liaision to the library board, consulted with city officials on the matter. Blanchard says that the board voted unanimously to terminate Surber; the following day Surber submitted a letter of resignation.

Blanchard said that the letter was put in Surber's file, but was a moot issue because he had already been fired.

Surber said it amounts to a difference in vision and he had not violated the employee handbook, according to the Des Moines Register report.

During a phone interview Thursday, Surber, 42, told the Register he offered a resignation letter to city officials prior to the meeting.

“The board and I had different visions,” Surber said. “It’s a difference of where they want to see the library and where I want to see it,” Surber said.

Surber's departure "was likely a difference of personalities for the vision and future plans for our library," Blanchard said.

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