Roxbury Library to Host Farewell Party for Radwa Ali

ROXBURY, NJ - The public is invited to a "cheers and tears" farewell party for Roxbury Public Library Director Radwa Ali on July 19, her last day on the job .

Billed as an "open house," the gathering is scheduled to take place from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the library's quiet room. The library is asking for RSVPs by July 15 from those wishing to attend. That can be done by clicking here .

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"If you appreciate all that Radwa has done for the Roxbury Public Library and Roxbury community, please make a donation in her honor so her vision can continue," the library said in publicizing the open house. Donations, to the Roxbury Library Foundation, can be made here .

Ali, hired in 2017, has accepted a position as director of the Montclair Public Library. She came to Roxbury after serving as director of the Bogota Public Library.

Looking for 'Someone Like Radwa'

The Roxbury Public Library Board of Trustees has started a search process for a replacement, said trustee and Roxbury Township Councilman Bob DeFillippo.

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He said the board, on June 26, decided to retain Library Crossroads Consulting to conduct the search.

'The Trustees agreed that Radwa's departure leaves some pretty big shoes to fill," DeFillippo said. "But the things she accomplished while serving as library director also gave us a sort of road map for the kind of person we are seeking -- someone with great communication skills, energy, enthusiasm and the ability to forge diverse relationships within the community. Someone like Radwa."

Library Crossroads Consulting was chosen, in part, because it recently helped with an update of the library's strategic plan and knew the board's objectives, he added.

"Crossroads took the information they received from the trustees and developed a job posting, which was also approved by the trustees," DeFillippo said. "We told Cossroads to conduct a broad search, starting with New Jersey and expanding regionally if necessary."

He said the ideal choice would be somebody "reasonably local."

The library has an annual budget of about $1.7 million and a staff of seven full-time and 12 part-time employees. The director post has a minimum salary of $108,000, an amount deemed "negotiable based upon experience," according to a job description being circulated by Library Crossroads Consulting.

The company has set Aug. 5 as a deadline for applications.

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