Applications for this position will be accepted until March 31, 2023.
The South Whitley Community Public Library Board of Trustees is seeking an enthusiastic and engaged leader to serve as its next Director, building on the library’s long tradition of exceptional service. The library Director is responsible for planning, organizing, directing and coordinating all activities of the library. The Director is the administrative leader of the library and reports to the Board.
The SWCPL is a beautiful, recently renovated library in northeast Indiana with a 2023 budget of $824,000, four full-time and several part time staff, and a service population of 5,100. South Whitley Community Public Library serves Cleveland and Richland Townships and the towns of South Whitley and Larwill, as well as the Whitko Community Schools (South Whitley Elementary School, Pierceton Elementary School, Whitko Career Academy, Whitko Junior-Senior High School).
South Whitley, with a population of about 1,800, is in southern Whitley County and near several area towns and cities – Huntington, North Manchester, Columbia City, Warsaw, and Fort Wayne.
This position is available due to the upcoming retirement of the current Director.
Click on the following link for a complete job description:
Qualifications and Application Information
Qualifications: Candidates must possess at a minimum a Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university and an LC4 certification or the ability and willingness to obtain this certification within three years. An MLS from an ALA-accredited college may be preferred.
Compensation: The position offers a hiring range of $50,000-58,000 dependent on qualifications and experience. Benefits include paid time off, deferred compensation through Nationwide as well as a health allowance.
The detailed job description can be found in the first section of this page.
To apply, please send the following as attachments to the hiring committee at [email protected]:
Cover letter
Résumé
Three professional references
Completed SWCPL job application (found in the previous section).
Services
SWCPL is a member of Evergreen Indiana, a consortium of over 100 school, public, and special libraries throughout the state. The shared Evergreen catalog allows patrons to borrow physical materials from the collections of these other units. Overdrive’s Indiana Digital Library, a consortium of over 200 libraries, offers patrons access to a large shared collection of digital materials. The library is also a member of Northeast Indiana Libraries Serving Communities Consortium (LSC), and the Northern Indiana Computer Consortium for Libraries (NICCL).
The library offers patrons access to digital resources such as hoopla (streaming audiobooks, music, video and ebooks), Kanopy (classic cinema, foreign films, documentaries), Ancestry (genealogy resources), Fold 3 (digitized and indexed historical military records), and more.
South Whitley Community Public Library offers thousands of print books, audiobooks, and videos for all ages. A variety of programs for children, teens and adults, in-person and virtual, are offered throughout the year. SWCPL is proud to offer access to technology assistance and devices as well as to printing, copying, faxing and laminating services.
Heritage
South Whitley Community Public Library has a long history of community support, starting with its foundation in April, 1912, when a group of citizens met to discuss the formation of a library. By August, 1913, the organization had found a director, a location in a room above the post office (behind what is now the Corner Cafe), and conducted a book shower to give the library its start.
The Landsdown property, on what is now the corner of Front and Maple streets, was purchased in 1919. The library has remained at the same corner since that time.
In the early 1960s local resident Fred Graham came into the library, tapped the floor with his cane, and said, “What this town needs is a new library.” The little white house that served as the library at that time had a leaky roof, sagging floors, and little space for programs or story hours.
Mr. Graham established a trust fund and after all of the beneficiaries of that trust passed away, the library received the remaining funds for a building project. Construction on the new building was completed in 1970.
The library was expanded in 1989 after Mr. Theodore Schultz donated his semi-precious gem collection and funds to build an addition to showcase the gems. The expansion project was completed in 1990.
A 2006-07 expansion and renovation enlarged the library by nearly fifty percent, adding two large meeting rooms with kitchen access, two restrooms, a large local history/genealogy room, office space and an enlarged children’s room.
In 2020, an expansion project added small meeting rooms and an auditorium to the existing library. A substantial donation from Alan Fox provided the majority of the funds for this addition. The building is now approximately 22,000 square feet, with a large storage area on the lower level which could be used for future expansion.
Community support has remained a tradition throughout the library’s history with building additions receiving generous funding from the individuals mentioned here as well as continued outstanding generosity from citizens of the South Whitley area.
