Two seats on the Daviess County Public Library Board are set to come open in September, and the process to fill them is expected to draw public interest once again.
Board President Susan Montalvo-Gesser’s term ends Sept. 13 and, under current rules, she cannot be reappointed. Secretary Kathi Mattas, who was appointed to fill an unexpired term, will also see her seat come open the same day. She can be reappointed but must still be nominated through the same process.
Library Director Erin Waller said the process for Daviess County differs somewhat from other counties in Kentucky and can be lengthy. In general, the library accepts applications from interested community members and forwards those to the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives (KDLA). The state librarian then selects two qualified names for each open seat and sends them to the county judge-executive, who can choose one nominee or reject both. If both are rejected, the state may submit two additional names, or the judge may eventually nominate a candidate of their own choosing, which must still be approved by the Daviess County Fiscal Court.
“There’s been a lot of confusion about how this works here,” Waller said. “It’s changed in recent years, and the board itself no longer selects nominees. We just forward applications to KDLA.”
Judge-Executive Charlie Castlen confirmed the two seats will open in September and said he expects the decisions to draw strong opinions.
“There’s going to be pushback no matter who I pick,” Castlen said. “It’s hard to please everybody, but at the end of the day, the job is to do the right thing — and as long as I don’t lose focus of that, I think I’ll be all right.”
Both Waller and Castlen said they hope whoever is selected will add to a diverse and well-rounded board. Waller emphasized that while the board oversees high-level decisions like the budget, tax rate, and policies, day-to-day library operations and programming are handled by staff.
Applications for the two seats can be submitted through the KDLA website. Waller said the library typically starts issuing calls for applications a couple of months in advance and forwards any received applications to the state.
While the board has no set requirement for legal expertise, Waller said losing Montalvo-Gesser — an attorney — will be a significant change.
“She’s brought valuable legal knowledge to the board,” Waller said. “I do hope her successor has a similar background, but our priority is having a board that reflects our community’s diversity of perspectives.”
The board will continue to review policies and oversee the library’s budget, including an upcoming review of the library’s reconsideration policy for challenged materials — a topic that has drawn increasing public input in recent years.
