Westmoreland County’s library system is turning the page to 2025 and the woman appointed to serve as its chief traffic cop for all operations is expected to play a large role in what’s ahead.
But, Melinda Tanner is no footnote to the system’s past success. She’s been credited with helping craft a better functioning system that operates 17 individual community libraries, five branches and four affiliates throughout the county, and just received a distinguished service award from the state’s library system.
“I put out a lot of fires,” Tanner said. “I train library boards and directors, I counsel and advise and I know all the library codes and regulations. Following all the libraries every day is something different and that’s why I like the job. We try to provide equitable level of support across the county.”
Tanner, 59, of Waynesburg came to the Westmoreland library system in April 2023 after serving more than two decades as the chief district consultant for the system that operates libraries in Washington, Fayette and Greene counties.
Naomi Cross, executive director of Westmoreland County’s library system, said Tanner is an invaluable asset to ensure the continued success of the local libraries.
Cross said Tanner’s accomplishments and initiatives include creating the association’s Rural and Small Libraries Roundtable and serving on a National Science Foundation project that brought top-notch science programming to libraries.
Tanner served as a steadying influence on the system in transition following the 2022 retirement of longtime executive director Caesar Muccari. Cross, the former director of Rostraver Public Library, was hired last February to run the county’s system and said she relies on Tanner’s expertise.
“She address of our libraries with everything they need. She knows the lay of the land and all of the resources available. She’s helps everyone across the state’s information network,” Cross said. “She (Tanner) was essential when I came on and she took a lot of the leadership on. She has made it possible for me to handle what is a trying position.”
Tanner is the library system’s go-to resource. She advises local directors, staff and boards on everything there is to know about how to operate a library. She provides human resources expertise, explanations of library regulations and codes and how to balance physical and digital media offered for lending throughout the system. She also coordinates delivery services that allows anyone with a Westmoreland County library card to borrow books from any library in the system and have it sent to their local facility for pickup.
She also was instrumental in helping craft and execute the Westmoreland library’s strategic plan, which includes a rebranding that will be rolled out this year. The system will ditch it’s bulky title in favor of a streamlined moniker: Westmoreland County Libraries.
Tanner started her career as a local library director before moving on to her consulting work.
It’s a job she enjoys, she said.
“I’m a people person and an introvert. I do the work because of the people I work with. I like the work and refer to myself as the librarian’s librarian. I like working with all the library directors and the boards and I want to support them as much as I can,” Tanner said.
“I can tell you the library code better than what I had for dinner yesterday. I help mitigate problems and challenges as they come up. We’re like the backbone of the library system,” she added.
