Tessman is retiring at the end of June after 30 years at the library.
Susan Salvesen, the library's human-resource director, said a nine-member selection committee will start sorting through the applications Friday.
The members include three library board members, three library employees and three community members, including a former mayor, Palmer DePaulis.
The public also likely will get a chance to interview the top candidates, Salvesen said. "We've always done that in the past."
The library has already included the public by surveying some patrons about what services they want added or expanded, and how they see the library's role as the "heart of the city."
Salvesen noted that the selection committee and the public are looking for the best candidate to move the library forward.
Library Journal recently named it Library of the Year, but Salvesen noted, "We're not done yet. We don't think we can rest."
The number of applicants is respectable, considering 12 people applied to run the New Orleans system, she said.
"We're going to get the right person. If it's not one of these nine, we'll do whatever we need to do to get the right person. We don't settle."
- Heather May
