With thunderous applause from the audience, the St. Tammany Library Board of Control unanimously elected Donald Westmoreland as the new director of the library Tuesday night.

It’s not a new job for Westmoreland. He has been the interim director since September 2009, when former director Janice Butler stepped down from the post. Before that, he was the library system’s assistant director and also director of finance.

Westmoreland applied for the position along with Ruth Bond of Bremerton, Wash., and Gabriel Morley of Harrogate, Tenn. Bond and Morley are librarians and were qualified, but Westmoreland seemed to have a lock on the job. Several residents in the audience expressed their preference for Westmoreland before the board voted.

DONALD WESTMORELAND

“I think it is best to promote from within,” said Gayle Kerry of Madisonville. “And Donald has done such a great job.”

Control Board Chairman Dr. Argiro Morgan echoed that sentiment after she announced the unanimous vote for Westmoreland.

“We thank you for all the work you’ve done for us so far,” Morgan said to Westmoreland.

The new director was pleased with the appointment, but was also humble.

“I’m just very blessed to be working with such a great staff and a great board,” Westmoreland said after the vote.

The new director said that his big challenge now would be to get more growth out of the library system. He was instrumental in getting a new library that is under construction in Madisonville, but he said there is still a lot more to do.

“Our facilities are small and we are behind in building and growth,” Westmoreland said.

Addressing a concern by a Slidell resident, he said he and the board are looking at re-opening the Slidell branch library on Pontchartrain Drive. He also announced to the board the purchase of land in Abita Springs for a future library.

When he gave the financial report to the board, he said the system had exceeded the tax revenue projections, which means the library is “close to a balanced budget.”

“I am satisfied where we are,” the new director said.

As part of his growth program, Westmoreland has just hired an architect to design new bathrooms for the Slidell Branch, which are inadequate for those that use the library. Westmoreland also said the new Overdrive software for downloading books to MP3 players is a success since it was instituted July 1. Digital Librarian Lou Anne Bertrand said the new system has already done 500 downloads from the digital library of 1,495 titles.

Westmoreland said that he wants to make sure all the library branches are built for the long term with lots of green space and parking.

“I want to get them as shiny as we can,” Westmoreland said.