Chair David Ingram told fellow ImagineIF Libraries trustees Thursday that the state Library Commission’s decision to loosen hiring requirements for directors at Montana’s largest libraries gives them “something to consider” as they search for a replacement for Ashley Cummins.

The ImagineIF board had petitioned the commission earlier this year to change the education requirements — directors formerly were expected to hold a master’s degree — and several trustees lobbied the state organization during a month-long comment period on the change. 

ImagineIF Trustee Carmen Cuthbertson sits on the state library commission — Gov. Greg Gianforte appointed her to the state board earlier this year — and publicly backed the proposal. 

Members of the public who weighed in on the proposal, though, largely argued against it, according to the Montana Free Press. The Helena-based nonprofit news outlet reported that of the 532 residents to respond, 412 opposed the change as compared to 120 who supported it.

The decision to drop the education requirement comes as the ImagineIF board begins the hiring process for a new library director after former Director Ashley Cummins resigned in October. Teri Dugan, the county library system’s office manager, is acting as interim director. 

Cummins’ hiring resulted in ImagineIF losing $30,000 of state funding because she lacked a master’s degree. Ingram said trustees initially were not going to ask the state to consider changing the requirements. Impressed with Cummins’ performance in the job, they felt compelled to see the standards changed, he said. 

Trustees Heidi Roedel and Doug Adams, who make up the board’s personnel committee, are expected to meet this month as part of the director search. Roedel said she has met with Montana State Library Lead Consulting and Learning Librarian Tracy Cook and Flathead County Human Resources Director Tammy Skramovsky for advice on moving forward with the hiring process.

Following a Dec. 7 meeting of the Board of Trustees, Ingram said they don’t feel a need to rush the hiring process, describing Dugan as an experienced and qualified acting director. 

He said he participated in the state library commission’s public comment period on the requirement change and told them it didn’t make any sense to him to hold the eight largest libraries in the state to a different standard when it came to education requirements. 

While the education requirement was in place, libraries serving fewer than 25,000 people were free to hire a director without a master’s degree. 

The Daily Montanan reported that library directors across the state signed a letter read during a public hearing in opposition to removing the requirement for a master’s degree for the position in larger cities in the state. During that hearing, Ingram gave his comment separate from his affiliation with the library and said the standards “essentially forces large libraries to select an American Library Association-certified candidate.” 

Both the State Library Commission and ImagineIF Board have moved to cut ties with the American Library Association, a national organization that provides professional development resources and more for librarians. Opponents of the association have accused the organization of promoting Marxist ideology and a political agenda. 

During the Dec. 6 commission meeting, Cuthbertson defended the decision, adding that there are some 30 other state quality standards that libraries must follow. 

“It’s not going to be ‘no holds barred, every library does whatever they want’ kind of scenario if we abandon this one standard … Saying that eliminating the degree requirement gives too much power to library board trustees is truly misguided,” Cuthbertson said.

She asked those who are wrestling with the issue to familiarize themselves with Montana state code as it relates to public libraries, pointing to how library boards are in charge of hiring directors. 

Opponents to the commission dropping the education requirements say it’s a politically motivated move to give library boards more control over the hiring process and that the requirements exist to provide a standard for libraries.

Montana Library Association Vice President Sarah Widger, a Bozeman Public Library employee, said the education requirements have been a guiding principle and that they wouldn’t be as successful without them. 

“The more than 400 people that wrote in saying that they oppose the changes to this, that is the population that the state library serves. Those are your patrons — these are your patrons speaking up,” Widger said. 

Ingram on Thursday offered a blunt response to library professionals opposed to the change.

“Welcome to the real world, we all have to compete,” he said. 

“Every library is different. If the community wants an [Master of Library Science] person, by all means, hire them if that fulfills your needs,” Ingram added. 

Reporter Taylor Inman can be reached at 406-758-4433 or by emailing tinman@dailyinterlake.com.