by Noah Leininger
Just days after the Indianapolis Liberation Center published a column excoriating the leading clique of the IndyPL Board for their anti-worker actions, Board President Hope Tribble has clumsily tried to divert the community’s attention elsewhere. “You helped keep the trains running on time,” Tribble said of CAO Anita Harden, a reference to a common apology for fascists under Mussolini in Italy. Tribble’s comments thanked Harden for doing so “during a period of transition” from the leadership of acting CEO Nichelle Hayes to the illegal closed-door hire of Gregory Hill. Harden is paid $15,000 a month to “learn” how the library works while workers are told no money exists for tuition reimbursement.
Tribble’s invocation of the fascists “running trains on time” as a praiseworthy comparison is yet another disqualifying moment. It was outrageous when Jackie Nytes accidentally emailed the entire staff a message soliciting “a letter from Black community leaders supporting” her amid racism allegations throughout 2021, and doing so was the last straw for her corporate backers. Nytes resigned as CEO in late August of that year, after telling workers and the public the entire summer that she would stay on.
The time to resign has come for Hope Tribble. A fascist group in neighboring Hamilton County made national news this summer for quoting Hitler in their newsletter, and after acting like a dictator for her whole term, now the Board President of the Indianapolis Public Library has invoked fascists to praise her CAO. Hope Tribble must be removed from the Indianapolis Public Library Board!
