Timberland Regional Library interviewing for interim director

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, April 15, 2026

The Timberland Regional Library’s trustees are set to interview those who have applied to fill the role of interim executive director for the five-county library district.

It’s been a quick process since former executive director Cheryl Heywood resigned in late March. Applications were due April 10, and now the board is set to interview around five candidates this Saturday, according to comments made at Monday’s special meeting of the board.

The board will gather in person Saturday at the Lacey Timberland Library and then interview the applicants remotely in closed session, according to comments at the meeting, which were later confirmed by Trustee Brian Mittge. The interim director job description has been posted on Timberland’s website, spokeswoman Anna Lisa Rasmussen clarified on Tuesday.

“I am able to share that Cheryl’s salary was $206,788 (in 2025) and the salary range for the interim is going to be $160,000-$210,000 for an approximately 6-12 month appointment,” she said via email.

In addition, she added the board has reviewed about 20 applicants for the position, citing information shared by Trustee Mittge at a recent gathering at the Centralia library. Some of that applicant information emerged during the Monday meeting. Trustees have been asked to score the applicants and the results point in a clear direction, said Savannah Campbell at the meeting. She’s the district’s staffing and benefits coordinator.

“There is already starting to be a clear delineation of the top five candidates,” she said.

How did the district get here? The district announced a $3.8 million deficit this year, blaming the shortfall on slow revenue growth and higher expenses. The district then took steps to fill the budget hole with a series of cuts, including 61 voluntary and involuntary layoffs out of a previously identified staff total of 240.

The involuntary layoffs take effect next month. Hundreds of people have attended the board’s online meetings and spoken out against the cuts during public comment.

Former Executive Director Heywood submitted a letter of resignation that was accepted by the board on March 25. The union that represents workers at the library district has also been critical of the job cuts. The Olympian reached out to the union about the interim executive director hiring process and heard back from them Tuesday morning.

“They (the interim director) will be entering in a time of crisis, and so we would need someone who can ‘turn the ship around,’ so to speak,” said union spokeswoman Beth Gawne in an email. “Strong leadership qualities are key — this means they put ego aside for the betterment of the organization.”

Her email included a list of “formal demands” that the union has for the interim director. The local 3758B union asks that the TRL interim leader pause the layoffs. The union asks the interim director to immediately authorize an independent investigation into the full 2026 budget and finance forecasting processes. The union asks the interim director to amend the board bylaws to add a non-voting labor representative to the board. The union asks that the interim director not plan any additional unstaffed library branches. The union asks that the interim director commit to a levy lid lift plan going forward.

Meanwhile, Library Services Director Andrea Heisel has filled an interim leadership role between Heywood’s resignation and the hiring of the interim director, according to comments made at Monday’s meeting.

What’s next for the district? Besides the hire, trustees identified other areas of improvement in a news release, including “immediate review of planned cost-cutting measures, restoring trust with community members,” and similar to the union’s request, position “TRL to pursue a levy lid lift on an ambitious timeline.”

A successful voter-approved levy lid lift would generate more property tax revenue for the district, but the last effort in 2009 failed, according to Thurston County Auditor’s Office data. In 2009, voters rejected the proposal in Grays Harbor, Lewis and Thurston counties, but voters approved it in Mason and Pacific counties. Overall, 55 percent of voters rejected the proposal, the auditor’s data show.