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West Florida Libraries Board Names Top Choices For New Library System Director
February 26, 2026
The West Florida Libraries Board of Governance (BOG) has recommended a new director for the library system.
The board recommended Bradley Vinson as its first choice for library director, and Chris Hare as its second choice. Vinson is the current coordinator of media services for the Escambia County School District.
The BOG acts only in an advisory capacity, and the recommendation goes to Escambia County for a final decision.
According to the county, personnel decisions fall with Administrator Wes Moreno, but he is not bound by the WFPL BOG recommendation. The administrator’s choices for county department head positions such as the library director are approved by the Board of County Commissioners, which can vote them up or down.
There were nine applicants for the position, which was left vacant after the November 18, 2025, retirement of Todd Humble.
The BOG recommended seven of the applicants to the county. The BOG and the county collectively moved six to phone interviews, but two of those declined. Four phone interviews were conducted, followed by in-person interviews.
The four finalists were:
Bradley Vinson — coordinator of media services for the Escambia County School District since June 2023. She previously worked for the West Florida Public Libraries in various capacities from January 2004 until February 2019, including children’s services coordinator. She was a media specialist at West Pensacola Elementary School from August 2014 until 2023, and she served on the West Florida Public Libraries Board of Governance for four years from 2019 until 2023.
Chris Hare — division manager for WFPL since December 2022. He previously worked as a branch manager for the WFPL Southwest, Genealogy, and Molino libraries between 2016 and 2022. He worked for a year as a branch manager in the Birmingham, Alabama, library system.
Christal Bell-Rivera — current interim director for WFPL, where she served as deputy director from March 2023 until her August 2025 appointment as interim director. She previously worked as the WFPL director’s aide from June 2022 until March 2023. She worked as a senior highway safety specialist for the State of Florida for nearly 14 years.
Michael Jenkins — regional branch manager for the Indianapolis (Indiana) Public Library since November 2024, and previously a library branch manager in North Carolina. He has previous library experience in Florida and South Carolina.
Pictured: Bradley Vinson, the West Florida Library Board of Governance recommendation for library director. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Comments
9 Responses to “West Florida Libraries Board Names Top Choices For New Library System Director”
Bradley Vinson is an ideal choice to direct our public libraries. She has outstanding well-targeted education and experience for this vital and complex job, and she has the thoughtful temperament and calm demeanor necessary to navigate through difficult times.
It appears the library BOG has made an excellent and qualified recommendation for Library Services Director who also satisfies the educational and professional qualifications under FS 257.17 governing operating grant eligibility. It would be a shame to over ride this highly qualified candidate for a political appointment who does not meet the minimum qualifications. Support the BOG recommendation.
Great choice! Bradley Vinson is more qualified! Let’s hope Wes Moreno does the right thing!
Great pick. I attended the in-person interviews of four candidates held on February 23rd in the county building. Bradley Vinson was by far the best candidate followed by Chris Hare and then Michael Jenkins. Vinson was rightly the person selected by the Board of Governance with Hare rightly their backup or alternate. All board members liked Jenkins but he didn’t have enough experience. They all seemed to hope Jenkins would apply for another position here. On February 20th Christal Bell-Rivera did very poorly, even worse than she had done during the phone interviews held on February 2nd. She was almost robotic reading from a script answering pretty simple questions with long-winded sentences with many big words. It all sounded as if her “answers” were prepared using ChatGPT. She also never looked at the board members and kept her eyes glued to the HR Director Nikki Powell as if to plead, “Save me!” The big open mystery obvious to the public and bluntly discussed by the library board was why Bell-Rivera was even allowed to have an interview. The job notice agreed to by both the Board of Governance and county staff had three key “minimum qualifications.” Bell-Rivera didn’t meet any of them. Of the 22 applicants the board discussed seven that county staff had said were “Qualified And Recommended” and five labeled “Qualified And Not Recommended.” At least two candidates placed on the second list might have been on the first list. Bell-Rivera should not have been on either list as she met no qualifications for the job. In fact, she has never actually done any actual “library” work. The board only wanted to interview the two top candidates in-person but County Administrator Wes Moreno threw Bell-Rivera a “lifeline” insisting that she be given an interview too. When it came time on February 23rd for the board to discuss the candidates Bell-Rivera was hesitant to leave the room and had to be told aloud that it was inappropriate for her to remain. Best case once Vinson is in the job Hare will be promoted to serve as Deputy Director, or perhaps sooner. The combination of Vinson and Hare would really “up the game” of the library system.
Glad to see the commonsense choice was made. I feel confident that the BOG has made the correct decision for our community. She definitely reflects proper, educated values for our students.
How fortunate Escambia Public Libraries are to have such an excellent field to choose among.
I agree that Bradley will make an excellent director.
Well, this pick shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who knows how extremely left-wing the West Florida Board of Governance is. Leave it to these intellectual titans to select the candidate who came into the interview and immediately removed her shoes! It’s not surprising that I didn’t expect the BOG to choose someone who is actually currently serving in an interim role and reflects the values of the majority of our country. Christal Bell-Rivera is the obvious, proven choice, but hey, let the fringe make this decision for all of us. Soon, we might see more of the same blocking our streets and attacking police, like their supporters in Minnesota and New York! If this isn’t the future you want for our wonderful home, I encourage you to make your voice heard by calling and texting your County Commission and County Administrator. If not, keep your head down and let the fringe decide for you—just don’t cry foul later when your child is being groomed to become a radical with extreme views by the handpicked sleeper cell employees quietly placed in positions of influence across our great nation.
David, indeed, I wish that ECT money was going to the libraries! Congratulations to Bradley on receiving the Board’s recommendation. She would be a very good choice for Director.
Too bad that more money is being spent on the Children’s Trust than the library system.