Escambia County | Libraries
The Agenda Skips the Director Search.
County Administrator Wes Moreno canceled the summer meetings and ignored two special meeting requests. Now the board is back, and the biggest question facing the library system is not on the agenda.
The West Florida Public Libraries Board of Governance will hold its first meeting since April 20 at 4 p.m. today at the Tryon Library, 1200 Langley Ave.
The board has been silent because Escambia County Administrator Wes Moreno canceled its summer meetings and did not respond to special meeting requests from Chair Dr. Blaine Wall.
What Is on the Agenda
Old Business. The only item is a review of the Fiscal Year 2026-2027 budget. The Board of County Commissioners has already approved that budget, and it took effect Oct. 1. Reviewing it now is a formality.
New Business. The board has three items:
- A Circulation Policy amendment to include vinyl records and media players
- The Strategic Plan 2028-2030
- The 2027 Annual Service Plan
Next meeting. The agenda lists the date as “to be determined” or Monday, Nov. 16, at 4 p.m. at the Southwest Library, 12248 Gulf Beach Highway.
What Is Missing
The agenda has no item on filling the Director of Library Services position. Director Christal Bell-Rivera resigned on Aug. 10, and the library system has been without a permanent leader since.
- The omission matters because of how the board has handled the job in the past. It wrote the job description and advertised the position. It reviewed every application and determined which were qualified, interviewed the most qualified, and narrowed the list to finalists. Then it voted on a candidate to recommend to the county administrator.
Last year, Moreno took over the hiring process and hired Bell-Rivera over questions about her qualifications and over the board’s two recommendations.
An “Advisory” Board That Isn’t
Moreno has repeatedly treated the Board of Governance as nothing more than an advisory committee. The founding documents say otherwise. The 2022 amendment to the interlocal agreement between the county and the City of Pensacola requires that any discontinuance or consolidation of library facilities be approved by the Board of Governance. The board’s bylaws, rewritten in 2024, say it “shall meet monthly” and that it shall recommend a director to the administrator. Read more.
The Vacant Seats
Two county seats on the board have been open since February 2026. Moreno never submitted the applications to the Board of County Commissioners. He told the Pensacola News Journal that he wanted to interview each applicant and determine their fitness to serve.
Earlier this month, county commissioners voted 5-0 to direct Moreno to reopen the applications. The names are due back before the commission on Nov. 5.
What to watch tonight:
- Whether any board member raises the director vacancy under Open Board Discussion
- Whether the board sets a regular monthly schedule or leaves the next date “to be determined”
- Whether Moreno or his staff attend, and what they say about who will lead the search
The board is meeting again, but only after months of pressure from the public and the commission. The question of what role the board of governance will play in hiring the next library director is still unanswered.
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