Q&A with Gregory Hill, new Indianapolis Public Library CEO

Gregory Hill was named CEO of the Indianapolis Public Library system by its board of trustees Monday evening. but he was far from an overwhelming choice.

For months, dozens of passionate protestors have called for former interim CEO Nichelle Hayes to be named CEO. On Monday, the trustees stalled a meeting after individuals began chanting Hayes’ name and moved to a separate room to vote away from the public. There, Hill was approved 4-1, but two board members who disagreed with appointing Hill left the meeting prior to the vote. Protestors banged on the door and chanted as the vote took place.

Hill, who has been serving as acting chief executive of IndyPL since December and as chief public services officer since August 2021, is well aware of the controversy surrounding his appointment, but he said he prefers to look ahead rather than dwell on the recent controversy.

The appointment makes Hill the first permanent CEO at the library system since September 2021, when former CEO Jackie Nytes resigned amid allegations of discrimination.

The departure of Nytes was followed by a lengthy and expensive CEO search and the naming of a chief executive who turned down his appointment less than a day after accepting it.

Hill has had various roles within the library system over the past 12 years. He started working at the system in 2011 as a clerk at the Warren Branch, followed by stints as an adult reference librarian at Central Library, manager of the Decatur Branch, manager of the Lawrence Branch and area resource manager of IndyPL’s east region. Before that, he spent over 20 years in the United States Navy.

IBJ spoke with Hill on Tuesday. The transcription has been edited for length and clarity.

Do you want to talk about your tenure as acting CEO, which had to be tumultuous with everything that’s going on?

The reason why I feel like I like to lead is because contribution, service, meaningful work, trustworthiness and kindness, those are my personal core values. … Also, starting a couple of weeks after I came into the position, one of the things that we wanted to work on was the climate-improvement process. 

As far as last night’s meeting, yes, it was very tumultuous. Was it expected? You know, somewhat. I’m just glad that we were able to make it through safely and no one got hurt.

It seemed like, at least in early reporting, that maybe you didn’t want the full CEO role (an email from board member Eugene to Nichelle Hayes published by The Indianapolis Star said Hill “had been offered the CEO position before you and declined it.”) How did that decision shift, if there was a shift there?

Again, I think I’ll refer back to my previous answer. … I chose to lead for those personal core values that I just mentioned. I thought about that over the previous three months. … I think my service attitude is something that would be beneficial to the organization as a whole. So I chose to step up for those reasons.

But with those core values being important to you, especially ‘trustworthiness,’ how do you move forward with so much public distrust? 

I think we start by just making sure we inform our constituents, our patrons, our stakeholders, our donors, let them know. And since I’ve been in this role approximately four months, I think that’s actually already started. We don’t just pick up today and move, we’ve been going forward for the past several months. So I think we’ll just continue in the direction we’re going.

The persistent question among this group of people has been, “Why not Nichelle Hayes?” Do you have a perspective on that?

I really don’t—I can’t answer, ‘why not?’ I’m not going to go into the board’s decision or why they did what they chose to do, if that’s OK. I don’t really have an answer for that.

With the way in which the board is divided now, how do you move forward as a leader with that tension and difficulty there?

I was hoping at some point that we could have some type of consensus to move the library forward, right? It’s in the best interest of all of us—not just the staff members, but the board members as a whole—to be able to just come together and be on one accord to move the library forward. Now, if we continue to have some of the external things going on with the board and other things, it may be very difficult. But I feel like I can help bridge that gap. And I’ll do my part in trying to bridge the gap and to move us forward.

Having been at the library for 12 years, how does this compare to anything else that you’ve experienced with the library, but especially with former CEO Jackie Nytes’ resigning the library due to claims of discrimination?

Well, I think it’s all one continuous motion, right. What happened last night is just, I think, a culmination of the things that have been happening over the last couple of years. So we just need to—I’m hoping that we can continue on the path that we’ve been going down, you know, the last couple of months, looking forward and just trying to get everybody on the same team.

People have been concerned about the money that’s being spent through this process, whether it be the idea of a new CEO search, the initial CEO search ($27,000), the money spent to hire Chief Administrative Officer Anita Harden ($190,000) and to pay for the PR firm (Hirons’ contract with IndyPL costs $39,600 through April.). How do you move forward with all of that in mind?

With the CAO position, I think that’s something that the board had planned on prior to me even stepping into this role. The money spent on some of the other expenditures, we just have to take a look at our budget. And now that we are in a position where we’re going forward, some of those expenses will be cut down—should be cut down.

In your previous roles as acting CEO and chief public services officer, were there ways in which you felt like all of this has impacted the regular running of the library system and the functioning of the board meetings in general?

Obviously, I think there was some sort of an impact. But as I have spoken to patrons, and I’ve received a lot of great comments from patrons saying that with all that’s going on, we still provide excellent service.

Being someone that works within the library, how have you seen things shift since Jackie Nytes resigned and since the climate study was undertaken? 

Well, since the climate study was undertaken, again, we’ve made a couple updates to the climate improvement plan that was posted on the website. And I bring that back because it’s very important.

I want people to know that we are making progress on the climate-improvement process. That is our top priority. We’ve been working on it diligently to get all of those recommendations in place.

How do you feel like your time at the library and your service in general throughout your life has prepared you to take on such a big role that holds so much importance within the community right now?

I think my military service has been crucial, you know, learning leadership skills. 

I think my 12 years at the library, starting as a clerk, working my way up as a community branch manager, as a regional branch manager, as the area resource manager, the chief public services officer—so I’ve I’ve actually been in every single position. 

I think that bodes very well for me being in the position that I’m in now. I’m not someone who maybe hadn’t done those particular positions, or someone maybe who came from outside of the system. I have intimate knowledge of the workings of the library. … So I think I’m very well-suited for that.

Is there anything else that you think is important for people to know or note about this whole process and this whole change?

I would say I just want people to know that my first responsibility and focus will be to wrap my arms around the library and to build a sense of community. Also, I have a commitment to take the leadership role in the healing process, and bring people together. … I also want to focus on making sure we build our relationships with our patrons, our donors, our elected officials, and so forth. So I would like to add that as well.

What are the first steps toward reconciling with the community and sort of making this role your own?

Communications. We have some communication steps planned that we want to do on a regular basis to keep people informed on what we’re doing and just make sure that we’re out talking to staff. 

Since I’ve been in this role, the executive team, we go to the branches twice a month. And that’s something that we hadn’t done previously. And also, when I was the area resource manager, we went to the branches monthly and we’ve been doing that for the past 18 months. So just trying to get out, talk to staff, see if they have any questions for us making sure we’re actually you know, in there talking with them. Getting firsthand knowledge of what’s going on is the plan.