WHO ARE THE CONSULTANTS?

Primary responsibility for each search is dependent upon geographic location, work load, and familiarity with the type of library. Following are the individuals who are regularly engaged in executive search by our firm. Gossage Sager may also involve other consultants whenever specialized assistance is needed. One of the major advantages of retaining Gossage Sager Associates is that we bring library professionalism in addition to search firm competencies to strengthen our search work for you.

Current Consultants

Dan Bradbury has over 30 years of library administrative experience.  In early 2003 he retired after nineteen years as Director of the Kansas City Public Library.  During his tenure in Kansas City he led the reorganization/rebuilding of the Library's branch system, separated the Library from the School District and established it as an independent taxing district, negotiated two public/private partnerships for the creation of new facilities and initiated the capital campaign and construction projects for a new Central Library.  Prior to coming to Kansas City , he served as library director in Janesville (WI), director of the Rolling Hills Consolidated Library in St. Joseph , Missouri , and as associate director in Waco (TX).  Among the honors and awards received throughout his career, Library Journal named him "Librarian of the Year for 1991".  For further information about him, see the current edition of Who's Who in America or Who's Who in the World.

Jobeth Bradbury serves as Owner/Associate Consultant. Jobeth, most recently, was the Library Director at the North Kansas City Public Library/High School Media Center. During her ten years at North Kansas City, she has been the project lead in the Library's building project and also one of the Project Managers in facilitating the Combined Library Project. She worked closely with elected officials and with the business community. Prior to coming to North Kansas City, she served as Library Consultant, Northeast Kansas Library System; Adult Services Department Chair, Kansas City, KS Public Library; and Associate Director, Rolling Hills Consolidated Library, St. Joseph, MO. Her experience includes managing a successful tax levy campaign, facilities expansion and renovation, and grant writing. In addition to her public library experience, Jobeth taught for the University of MO's Masters in Library Science program-courses include Collections Management, Public Libraries, Reference, and Young Adult Services. She is currently a member of the MO Library Association, American Library Association, Public Library Association, and the North Kansas City Kiwanis.

Eleanor Jo (Joey) Rodger will be working with Dan Bradbury as an Associate Senior Consultant with responsibilities to identify, interview and recruit exceptional library administrators, with a primary focus on major urban libraries. Her experience as President and CEO of the Urban Libraries Council (ULC) from 1992 - 2004, and Executive Director of the Public Library Association from 1986 - 1992 gives her a unique awareness of the emerging trends and the current and future leadership in the public library profession. The ULC membership includes most of the largest urban public libraries in North America . Among the services developed by Joey for the membership was establishment of an Executive Leadership Institute, a major national program for training the next generation of library administrators, and programs targeting culturally diverse administrators. She has also earned an international reputation for her skills in assisting library boards and administrators to further improve their effectiveness. During her 27 years in the library and information services field, she has gained experience as a teacher, researcher, state library consultant, library administrator, grant coordinator, and statewide director of network services.

Sarah Warner will serve as an associate consultant assisting with identifying qualified candidates and conducting pre-screening interviews, interviewing and reporting on references and, depending on scheduling, may be available to assist during site visits.  Warner brings many years of experience in entrepreneurial, corporate, and non-profit settings, developing and providing a full spectrum of library services, including staff recruiting and management. She has served as Managing Principal and Vice President of Staffing and Business Development for Wontawk since 1998. Prior responsibilities include management of all corporate library operations for Wang Laboratories from 1983-1996, and Manager of Content Licensing for Amulet, an Internet start-up. Warner has also served 3½ terms (11 years) as an elected member of the Board of Trustees of Chelmsford Public Library in Massachusetts . She served on the search committee for the selection of the Chelmsford Public Library's director. Warner received her MLIS from Pratt Institute and has been an active member and leader of Special Libraries Association for many years, both at the regional chapter and association levels, including Boston Chapter president, New York Chapter treasurer and New York membership chair.

Sarah Ann Long has been the director of the North Suburban Library System (NSLS) since l989. NSLS is a consortium of 660 libraries of all types, academic, public, special and school in the suburbs north and northwest of Chicago. Previously she directed the Multnomah County Library in Portland, OR, the Dauphin County Library System in Harrisburg, PA, and the Fairfield County District Library in Lancaster, OH. She has worked as a children's librarian, as a consultant for the State Library of Ohio and in an academic library in England. She began her career as a school librarian. Sarah Long was the 1999 - 2000 President of the American Library Association. For further information, see the current edition of Who's Who in America or visit her website .

Donald Sager has 26 years of library administrative experience. He has served as the chief executive of the Chicago, Milwaukee, Columbus/Franklin County (OH), Mobile (AL), Elmhurst (IL), Elyria (OH), and Kingston (NY) public libraries. In addition, he has ten years of experience as Publisher, Highsmith Press, where he was responsible for the development of 144 books for the library profession. He assumed the Presidency of Gossage Sager Associates LLC in 2000. A past president of the Public Library Association, he has taught library management and technology at five graduate schools, and he is the author of eight books on library administration. For the past ten years he has been a contributing editor for Public Libraries, and he is currently a member of the ALA Council, the governing body of the American Library Association. For further information about him, see the current edition of Who's Who in America and Who's Who in the World or visit his website .

In Memoriam

Wayne Gossage , 79, academic and public library administrator, library management consultant, entrepreneur and pioneer library executive recruiter, died on March 2. In his early years he served as Director, Warner Library of the Tarrytowns, NY; Assistant Head Librarian, Teachers College of Columbia University, NY; and Library Director, Bank Street College of Education , NY . He and Muriel Regan founded Gossage Regan Associates in 1983. Over the following twenty years they successfully assisted more than 60 libraries in their search and recruitment for top executives. He was active in the American Library Association, notably in the Reference and User Services Association, as Chair of the Wilson Indexes Committee, on the Notable Books Council, and on the juries of the Mudge - R.R. Bowker Award, which is for leadership in reference librarianship, and the former Ralph Shaw Award for Library Literature. He also served as President of the Columbia University School of Library Service Alumni Association.