INDIANAPOLIS — A search for a new leader at the Indianapolis Public Library is drawing the ire of many people, concerned about the board's hiring practices.
Monday evening, dozens of community members gathered on the library's front steps, calling on the board to take action and give the permanent job to Nichelle Hayes, who's been serving as the Indianapolis Public Library's Interim CEO in recent months.
"We want Nichelle to be the CEO now," the crowd chanted, waving signs in support of Hayes.
"They did the search, she stood up and she should have gotten the position," said Vickie Daniel, who came out Monday night to protest in support of hiring Hayes as Indianapolis Public Library CEO.
Standing in front of the Indianapolis Public Library, this crowd isn't staying quiet about who they want to lead the system.
The community is keeping the fight over the next library CEO front and center after the library board chose Dr. Gabriel Morley, who many felt was less qualified than Hayes.
"This protest is to demand that the board do the next logical and right thing, that they should have done in the first place which is install Nichelle Hayes as CEO who is clearly much more qualified, had much more support than Morley and is clearly the people's choice," said Derek Ford, who helped to organize Monday's protest.
Last week, Morley turned down the job offer after pushback from the community.
"Nichelle is homegrown, she's come up through the ranks, she knows the system, she knows the library and she's about everybody winning and her vision was bigger than his," Daniel said.
Many around Indianapolis are voicing concerns that Hayes, a Black woman, may have missed the top job for reasons other than her qualifications.
That's something library board president Judge Jose Salinas pushed back on, saying, "Dr. Morley earned this offer on his own merit, through his qualifications, and decades of experience."
But with Morley now out of the picture, some in the community are demanding the board give the top job to Hayes. And with the library board set to meet next Monday, those here say they want to make sure the board hears them loud and clear.
"We’ll be at the board meeting next week to deliver the petitions and to speak again in support of Hayes and we think this is clearly a winnable goal that we have,” Ford said.