Indy Library board member Stephen Lane resigns before vote to remove him

Indianapolis Public Library Board member Stephen Lane abruptly resigned Thursday. 

The Indianapolis Public Schools Board was prepared to vote on a resolution to remove Lane from the library board in that night’s action session.

The IPS Board is charged with appointing two members to the library board and in January 2023 appointed Lane, a former special collections librarian and union member at IndyPL, to serve a four-year term.

No reason was given to remove Lane, who said he found out about the resolution only hours earlier. 

Minutes before the IPS board meeting began at Arsenal Tech High School, Lane dramatically submitted his letter of resignation. He told the board they could remove the resolution from the agenda. 

“I don’t want to be a part of your fight club,” Lane said in front of the packed audience in the media center, likely a reference to alleged abuse at an IPS school. “Fix your schools and fix your literacy rates.”

Lane’s tenure began during a tumultuous period as the board sought a permanent library CEO.

In August 2022, the former CEO stepped down following accusations from some Indianapolis Public Library workers that she contributed to a toxic work environment. At the time, Lane was an employee who called for the former CEO to resign.

After a nationwide search for a new CEO, a chosen candidate declined the position.

Some library staff and community members, including Lane, demanded the board select interim CEO Nichelle M. Hayes as the permanent executive, but the board declined.

Greg Hill was appointed acting CEO of the library in December 2022.

After Lane was appointed to the library board, the board held a vote to hire Hill as permanent CEO in April 2023. Lane was the only 'no' vote.

“I think this resolution further erodes the trust of this board and erodes the legitimacy of this board,” Lane said at the time. “I think it’s a sham, and I think it’s very disrespectful to the community and the library workers.”

In a Facebook post from the Indianapolis Liberation Center, Lane said he “found it highly troubling that rather than dedicating the meeting to addressing the barbaric teacher ‘fight-club discipline’ bullying against one of our city’s disabled students – let alone the dismal literacy rates – they are caving to political pressure from IndyPL Board President Hope Tribble.”

Tribble could not be immediately reached for comment.

The Thursday night IPS action session included over an hour of testimony from parents concerned about the safety of students at George Washington Carver Montessori School 87.

The outrage comes a week after a video made public last week of a teacher encouraging the beating of a second grade student with disabilities by a classmate. The parent of the second grader filed a lawsuit, claiming that school staff ignored their concerns.