The director of the Great Falls Public Library is retiring and the process to find her successor will start soon.

Kathy Mora will retire on Dec. 27 after 31 years at the library, plus she worked at the library during high school as well.

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The process to find a new director will be a bit unique, City Manager Greg Doyon said, because of the management agreement between the library and the city.

Under that agreement, the city has authority over personnel but a director appointment has to be made in consultation with the library board.

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The library was established in 1890 by city founders Paris and Valeria Gibson and Robert Vaughn. It was privately funded until the city assumed operations it 1892, according to city documents.

According to city ordinances and state laws, the library is largely independently operated by the library board though the City Commission must approve its annual budget as part of the overall city budget.

Doyon told commissioners during Tuesday’s meeting that he met with Mora to work on the job description, canvassed other library directors in similar cities to ask about trends for libraries and traits of a good director and will meet with the Great Falls Public Library Foundation.

Doyon is also meeting with the library board on Friday for a special meeting to discuss the process of appointing an interim director and recruiting a new director.

During that meeting, Doyon also plans to discuss the city-library agreement and whether it’s still working as intended.

Doyon said the job will be advertised nationally in hopes of getting a pool of good applicants.