ADAMS, Mass. — Children's Librarian Holli Jayko will take on the role of interim library director until the town can hire a new director this spring.

Town Administrator Tony Mazzucco told the library's board of trustees last week that the town should begin the new director selection process to replace longtime Library Director Deborah Bruneau after the holidays.

"We don't want to stretch it out but with two library directors in half a century, there is no need to rush the process, and I think we need to take our time and go through our screening process," Mazzucco said. "Hopefully, we can get another director who be with us for a long period of time."

The trustees officially voted to appoint Jayko as interim director even though she has been acting director since Bruneau's Nov. 1 retirement. Jayko is next in charge and automatically took the helm.

Mazzucco said she will be paid the director's salary but at step one. There will be money left in the budget to bring Bruneau in a few hours a week to work as a consultant to help through the transition. The town will also hire a part-time library aide to help Jayko with the extra work load until a new director is hired.

Mazzucco said this temporary aide should be a former library worker to bypass any training process.

"You almost have to take somebody that has worked for the library before, and I think there are a few former employees that might be interested for a three- or four-month period," Mazzucco said. "To hire someone from the outside would just not make sense."

Mazzucco said the town should take 30 to 60 days after the job is posted to collect applications and perform interviews. This will push the timeline out to spring which allows a new director to come in after the budget process.

"I don't think it is beneficial to bring someone in in the middle of the budget process especially when we know next year is going to be a tough budget process," he said. "I rather have someone start fresh."

He added that extra time can be added if applicants come from out of state.

"Library positions are very competitive and you would be surprised where people draw from for even an entry-level position," he said. "I probably got a better applicant pool for the part-time librarian position here then I had for every position I have hired in the last year."

Mazzucco said he will sort through all of the applicants and select the five most qualified. A five-person panel, including the town administrator, two trustees, and two town department heads, will narrow the field down to one candidate through a series of interviews.

Mazzucco said hewould like to include outside department heads because they can be objective and have a good sense of the community.

"You might pick someone like the town accountant or maybe the assessor or the police chief," Mazzucco said. "They are people who know the community, and they are people that know the town and what it's like to work in the management world in the town."

After the panel has made its selection, the candidate will go before the board of trustees to get its blessings. After this, the Selectmen will vote to hire the new director.

Trustees James Loughman and Karen Kettles volunteered to serve on the interview panel.