SHADY COVE (AP) - Jackson County's interim library director has announced his resignation, continuing an exodus of managers following the closure of all 15 branches because of budget cuts.

Ted Stark, 56, of Shady Cove said Aug. 17 will be his last day before heading to a new job in Wisconsin.

“There's a lot of uncertainty,” about the future of the library system, Stark said. “I didn't see that there was a lot left for me to do.”

The five former managers in the library system have either retired early or found other jobs, Stark said.

County Administrator Danny Jordan said he hasn't decided whether to appoint an interim library director. Even though the branches are closed indefinitely, the county must maintain the buildings, computer system and other services so that one or more library buildings could potentially be reopened, Jordan said.

With Stark's departure, only five library employees will remain to oversee the mothballed system.

The county closed all of 15 its the libraries after it lost $23 million annually from the federal timber payments program. Voters rejected two levies, one last November and one in May. Each would have generated $8 million annually to keep the libraries open.

The city of Ashland will ask voters to approve a September levy to raise $1 million annually to operate the second-biggest library in the county system.

Stark, who was raised in the Midwest, said he will run the public library in Menomonie, Wis., a city of 15,000 people between Eau Claire and Minneapolis, Minn.

He said his pay at the new job will be $61,000 a year compared to $75,000 in Jackson County. Housing generally costs less in Wisconsin, he said, which will help make up for the smaller salary.