Indianapolis PL Head Leaves

Mielke departs troubled system with severance

By Norman Oder -- Library Journal, 02/01/2007

Linda Mielke, CEO of the troubled Indianapolis–Marion County Public Library since September 2004, left her job as of January 15, under a mutual agreement with the library board. Board president Louis Mahern said in a statement that Mielke will be paid nearly $70,000 in severance, as stipulated in her contract.

Mielke entered a situation in which the Central Library expansion plan was delayed and over budget, the consequence partly of a deeply politicized board. Indeed, a former member who had ties to a construction management firm that worked on the project pleaded guilty to a conflict of interest charge.

Mahern praised Mielke for the “many tough decisions that she had to make over the past two years. We would never have made it through our financial crisis without her resoluteness and attention to detail.” Last year, Mielke was an unsuccessful finalist for a job leading the Johnson County Library, Overland Park, KS.

Staff criticism

Mahern credited Mielke with centralizing collection development and increasing materials funding, but she faced criticism that she’d pushed too hard to promote best sellers and DVDs. She turned down a four percent raise when staffers were losing ground on salaries, but union organizers criticized her. Michael Abbett, a member of the Library Union organizing committee, told the Star, “[Mielke] came into town and in two years demoralized a system worse than it already was, and took off.”

Mielke, who told the Star that she was on medical leave after shoulder surgery, said her settlement agreement barred her from comment. Chief operating officer Laura Bramble was named interim CEO for 2007 to see the institution through the opening of the new Central Library. A permanent replacement will be sought to begin in 2008.