NORTH LITTLE ROCK — Two residents of the River Valley & Ozark Edition coverage area have applied to be executive director of the William F. Laman Public Library System in North Little Rock, said Betty Anderson, the city’s human-resources director.
Tina Murdock of Conway, regional library director for the Faulkner-Van Buren County Library System, is among the candidates.
Murdock started at the Faulkner County Library on Dec. 2, 2013. She was hired to replace longtime director Ruth Voss, who retired at the end of 2012. Murdock wtammyas previously manager of the Fine Arts and Humanities Division of the Dallas Public Library. She oversees seven library branches in addition to Conway: Greenbrier, Mayflower, Mount Vernon, Twin Groves and Vilonia; and Van Buren’s main library in Clinton with a branch in Damascus.
Zoe Butler of Morrilton, public-library consultant and coordinator for the Arkansas Center for the Book at the Arkansas State Library in Little Rock, also applied for the Laman Library position.
Interviews have been completed, Anderson said on Wednesday. The four-member interview panel consists of Anderson; Vicki Matthews, director of the library board; Karen Scott, director of finance for the city of North Little Rock; and Mary Furlough, assistant library director.
“We’re still in the process of making our selection,” Anderson said. “We should know something, hopefully, by next Friday.”
The other four candidates are as follows:
• Todd Humble of Colleyville, Texas, library services supervisor for the North Richland Hills Public Library;
• Erin Waller of Benton, director of the Saline County Library System;
• Regina Stipsky of Little Rock, librarian/director of the Pulaski Academy School Library System; and
• Adam Webb of Hot Springs, adult and technical-services librarian at the Garland County Library.
Longtime William F. Laman Public Library System Executive Director Jeff Baskin, 67, died in September of pancreatic cancer. Furlough has been interim director since late summer.
Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.