Indian Trails Public Library District has named its new library director who will head the library through years of expansion.

Winnetka-Northfield Public Library District Director David Seleb will take over at Indian Trails starting Nov. 1 and will later lead renovations and program growth funded by a tax referendum approved earlier this year.

Seleb has directed the Winntka-Northfield library for the past four years. Before that, he was the director of the Blue Island Public Library for five years. He has also worked for the Metropolitan Library System and the Suburban Library System and is a member of the Illinois Library Association and the American Library Association.

“He was the best candidate of all the applicants we looked at,” said Wally Salganik, president of the library board of trustees. “We like his track record. We like his communication skills. We like his knowledge of the facets of operating the library. We think he’ll be good primarily for the patrons, but the staff as well.”

With the help of a professional organization, the library board took about six months to find Seleb and fill the position left by former director Tom Simiele.

Simiele left abruptly following the passage of the April 5 referendum, where voters approved a rate hike that would give the library about $450,000 per year for 15 years, or about $5 million, for improvements.

Buffalo Grove activist Rob Sherman and four others sued the library over the referendum, claiming that Simiele and the board had lobbied for its passage illegally by persuading residents to vote in its favor.

Sherman is hoping to convince the court to void the results of the election because he believes it was too badly tainted by the library’s lobbying. So far, his case has been dismissed twice, though he recently said he would continue to appeal the decision.

Unless Sherman’s suit is successful, the library will begin receiving money around spring next year, Salganik said.

“We think services are pretty good at the present time, but we think they will get better,” he said of Seleb taking over for interim president Michael Madden.

Seleb could not be reached for comment.