Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson’s second pick for library director has resigned.
Judy Eledge’s last day as library director was Friday, Bronson spokesman Corey Allen Young said.
“She didn’t want herself and her family going through what has been an unfair disparaging by the Anchorage Assembly of the mayor’s nominees during the confirmation process including the last nominee for the Director of the Library,” Young wrote in an email. “The mayor appreciates the work she has done and has asked her to stay on as a deputy director.”
Eledge is a retired teacher and ran for a spot on the Anchorage School Board earlier this year, narrowly losing the race.
Eledge was nominated by Bronson after the Anchorage Assembly voted down his first choice for library director, Sami Graham. Moments later, Bronson appointed Graham to be his chief of staff.
The library director job requires a master’s degree in library science, which neither Eledge nor Graham has.
Young says the administration will conduct a “world-wide” search for Eledge’s replacement.
Eledge could not immediately be reached for comment Friday afternoon. She is the latest of several high-level municipal employees to leave the Bronson administration in the last month.
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Wesley Early covers Anchorage life and city politics for Alaska Public Media. Reach him at wearly@alaskapublic.org and follow him on X at @wesley_early. Read more about Wesley here.
