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Central Library director details services, renovation progress and branch reopenings
Summary
Central Library Director Liz Shetley described departments housed at Central, visitor and program statistics, the Second/Third floor renovations, and upcoming branch reopenings during the board meeting.
Liz Shetley, director of Central Library, gave the board an overview of Central’s operations, staffing and recent facility work at the March meeting of the Indianapolis Public Library Board of Trustees.
Shetley told trustees Central is organized into six departments: Central Adult Services, The Learning Curve (juvenile area), Central Services (circulation and reshelving), the Center for Black Literature and Culture (CBLC), security and events. She said the CBLC is currently without a manager and that staff member Brianna Barnes is serving as public service associate while a manager is being hired. She noted the facility houses other departments such as social work and special collections that are not in her supervisory area.
She reported that under a new door-counting system installed mid‑March, nearly 340,000 people came through Central’s doors from the mid‑March start of the count to the end of the year. She outlined program activity in 2024—about 513 adult programs with roughly 7,600 attendees and 530 juvenile programs with roughly 18,000 attendees—and highlighted recurring community activities such as Monday night chess, maker-space 3D printing and family game nights.
Shetley described ongoing renovation work on the Second and Third Floors. DVDs and CDs are being moved to a new 2 East location, with shelves installed and circulation expected to resume in early April. Phase 2 will address 3 West and restroom redesigns; the Third Floor will become a dedicated juvenile area. She also previewed the CBLC’s Juneteenth program on June 14 and said the Nora and Pike branches have undergone major refreshes made possible by bond funding — Nora had a soft opening and Pike’s grand reopening is scheduled for a weekend in March.
Board members praised staff for reorganizing collections and improving navigation. Shetley also described Central’s security team (11 security assistants and supervisors) and the events department that manages rentals of the atrium for weddings and proms.
