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ALBANY, GA -- With his announced resignation yesterday, Dougherty County Library Board Chairman, Dr. Guy Craft, was not in attendance for the board's monthly meeting.

"He has just given so much of his time, and talent, to this community in general, and to the library board in particular. I doubt we'll ever have a chairman or chair person with as much library experience as he had," said Board Member, Walter Kelley.

Dr. Craft's resignation was quick and mysterious to most board members, who speculate that recent decisions to close two libraries, plus health issues may have been factors in his departure.

"The last thing he wanted to do was close any libraries, and I think it really hurt him deeply that we had to do that. And I think that if there had been a way to keep those libraries open, or reopen them, he would've said yes let's do it," said Kelley.

But although the board may be missing their chairman, that doesn't mean they don't have business to still attend to, they have to find a contractor for the downtown library renovations by mid-January.

"Anybody could bid low, but they'd do a bad job. We want to make sure we have a responsible bidder, we want to make sure we have a responsive bidder," said Kelley.

And that means interviewing every potential client to ensure a job well done.

"Making sure they have the financial where-with-all to do the job, we want to be sure they know how to do the job, and we want as much local participation by the sub-contractors as is possible," said Kelley.

The board didn't choose a bidder at the meeting Wednesday, but say they've widdled it down to a couple choices and will make that decision at their meeting in January.

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