Library director resigns, seeks reinstatement

The city of Bella Vista is looking for a library director, Mayor Peter Christie confirmed last week.

Roxie Wright, library director since June 2014, said in an Aug. 17 email to city council members and media that Christie told her to resign or be fired. She said she agreed to step down on Aug. 15 in order to collect unemployment benefits.

On the following Monday, she sent a second email saying she wanted to be reinstated and blamed her dismissal on complaints about her from certain library staff members. Wright said she believed most staffers were happy with her management style and that the library was running smoothly.

Christie would not comment on Wright’s departure. He did say the job had already been posted and a few applications had been received. The position pays between $55,000 and $63,000 according to the city website.

Wright provided letters of support from several library volunteers in her email. She also contended Christie was concerned that private financial support for the library was “drying up.”

The library became a department of the city of Bella Vista in January 2014 after having existed as a private nonprofit before that. Two groups, the Bella Vista Public Library Foundation and the Friends of the Library, raise private funds to aid its operation and fund a planned expansion. The foundation owns the library building, but the city owns the collection and materials.

Volunteers DJ Clinch and Laura Claggett wrote in support of Wright, saying she shouldn’t be blamed for any fundraising issues because that wasn’t part of her job.

Marianne Farner, a former director and currently the chair of the city’s Library Advisory Board, said she trusted the mayor’s leadership.

“In my 16-year history with the library, as director, member of the trustees’ board and now chair of the advisory board, I have seen many changes,” Farner wrote in an email. “Change is hard for everyone. However, I have the utmost confidence in Mayor Christie and look forward to aiding him and the city as the library moves forward under new leadership.”