The CEO of Indy’s public library system could get a raise this month.
Gregory Hill, who made around $205,000 last year, would be in line to make $265,000 per year if the library board approves a raise, board president Ray Biederman told Mirror Indy.
Biederman said the raise is appropriate because Hill has done a “fantastic job” and it would put his pay in line with other similar library CEOs.
“We felt pretty comfortable with making this move,” Biederman said.
The board voted in May to increase the salary range for the CEO position to as high as $270,000. The previous cap was $220,000.
Khaula Murtadha was the only person on the seven-member board to vote against increasing the pay range. She said giving the CEO a raise makes it look like the board doesn’t care as much about regular workers.
“How does it look to those who are boots on the ground?” Murthada, the board’s vice president, said during the meeting.
In 2025, the median salary for a librarian was around $54,500, according to the state’s public employee database. That was an increase of about 10% from 2023.
Hill’s pay over the same time went up by about 23%.
Hill declined an interview request.
How the CEO’s pay is decided
Part of the process of deciding what the library’s CEO should make included looking at other municipal corporations in Marion County. Those include IndyGo and the Indianapolis Airport Authority.
In 2025, Hill was the fifth-lowest earner among leaders of the seven municipal corporations.
“We have to be a competitive workplace for people at that level as well,” Biederman told Mirror Indy.
Biederman said during the meeting that the CEO’s pay range was adjusted based on libraries in Cincinnati, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio.
He later told Mirror Indy that other libraries were used, and that the three from Ohio were the ones that came to mind right away.
Still, Michael Torres, president of the library workers’ union, said he thinks the board didn’t use a high enough standard to figure out what its CEO should be paid.
He pointed to a compensation study in 2019. A consultant the library hired used a list of 14 library systems of similar size for comparison.
“Not trying to take anything away from anybody,” Torres said during the May meeting. “We are just concerned about the process.”
What’s next?
Hill’s salary has to be approved by the board.
Biederman said that will happen at the next board meeting, which is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. June 22 at the Fort Ben library, 9330 E. 56th St.
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Mirror Indy reporter Tyler Fenwick covers housing and labor. Contact him at 317-766-1406 or tyler.fenwick@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on X @ty_fenwick and Bluesky @tyfenwick.bsky.social.
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