Organizational Architecture has been fortunate to work with many of Ohio’s public libraries. Our latest success story is helping the Stow – Munroe Falls Public Library’s Board of Trustees select its new Library Director.
The Stow – Munroe Falls Public Library was founded in May 1924 as a school district library with a Board of Trustees appointed by the Board of Education. Located in the Township Hall close to the town center, it served both Stow and Munroe Falls, as it does today. Jessie Williamson, daughter of Adella [Adell] Durbin, was the first librarian of Stow Public Library. Mrs. Williamson was sent for library training at Western Reserve University for one month in the summer of 1924, at the expense of the Trustees. The library officially opened to the public in January 1925.
The Mission of the Stow – Munroe Falls Public Library is to provide excellence in library service to all who seek access to information and recreational, educational, and cultural materials of any format. It also aims to promote the well-being of the community through programs and cooperative efforts with other community agencies, public and private. The Stow – Munroe Falls Public Library will help create a community where ideas, culture, and knowledge thrive by providing materials, equipment, and services to all people.
Upon the retirement of its Library Director earlier this year, Board of Trustees President Thomas Shubert contacted us to help them find their next Director. He said:
We selected OA and the project team of Mark Fiala and Ryan Sheehan to work with us based upon their experience and understanding of the needs of Ohio’s libraries as well as similar executive searches they have successfully conducted for other libraries. They led an extremely diligent process to locate top library talent in both Northeast Ohio and nationally. They worked closely with the Board during the candidate screening process and facilitated each meeting we had with the candidates. They guided us on our decision-making and provided helpful tools for us to use. During this process they were adept at helping us work around the challenges COVID-19 presented to library operations, and even with the delays caused by the library shut-down, they kept both us and our candidates engaged. We are pleased that our new Director, Gale Koritansky, started at the beginning of September. Ryan and Mark made this process smooth and we are looking forward to working with them again.Public sector employers are one of our specialties. Whether you are a municipality, agency, or public library system, we can help with your HR programs, including recruiting, compensation benchmarking, and staff training. If you need assistance with recruiting, compensation strategies, or other HR consulting needs, contact us and check out other success stories to learn more.