The Indianapolis Public Library Board of Trustees is scheduled to increase CEO Greg Hill’s pay from $205,000 to $265,000. In 2023, when Hill was anointed as CEO behind closed doors, his salary was $166,362, a figure still far too high for someone who didn’t apply during the national search and never even interviewed for the position. Now, he’s set to earn nearly 40 percent more after three years.
During that time, pay for front-line workers like librarians, who earn around $54,500, increased 10 percent which, considering inflation, only amounts to a 0.7 percent pay bump over three years. While the Board wants to raise Hill’s salary by nearly 25 percent, the administration is proposing a standard 3 percent raise for workers. The library workers’ union, AFSCME Local 3395, is currently in contract negotiations with the administration.
What exactly has Hill accomplished this past year, when the Central Library branch was closed to the public for months, that warrants such a drastic pay increase? What has he accomplished compared to library workers–those who actually run the entire library system? If library workers received half of what Hill wants, or around $30,000, they would make enough to live comfortably in Indianapolis. If you want answers, then show up and voice your concerns during the public comment period.
We stand firmly on the side of the library workers and their unnecessary struggle for an equitable pay structure. We believe libraries are our most important data centers and the city needs to invest in libraries and library workers, not CEOs and corporations like Google!
Featured photo: The community packs the IndyPL Board Meeting in April 2023 to protest Hill’s impending appointment as CEO. Credit: Indianapolis Liberation Center.