Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson has named his fourth pick for director of the city’s libraries.
Bronson announced Thursday evening that Virginia McClure would serve as Anchorage’s director of library services. McClure is set to start Oct. 17, pending confirmation by the Assembly.
The position has been vacant since last November, when Judy Eledge resigned before her confirmation hearing. Eledge has since been the de facto head of the library, serving as deputy director, which doesn’t require Assembly approval. Her tenure has been the subject of an internal investigation regarding allegations of homophobia, racism and general mistreatment of library staff. City officials say Eledge will remain deputy director under McClure.
McClure is the fourth person to be considered for the head of the library. Before Eledge’s appointment, Bronson selected Sami Graham to lead the department. Graham’s confirmation wasn’t approved by the Assembly, with members citing a lack of a master’s degree in library science, a prerequisite for the job. Graham was subsequently named the mayor’s chief of staff. After Eledge resigned, Bronson selected Robert Hudson to lead the library system, but Hudson ended up turning the job down.
City officials say McClure does have a master’s degree in library science and was the head of the Mountain View Library from August 2014 to July 2017. She also served as assistant director for public services for Anchorage’s library system from July 2017 to February 2019, and had previously worked for the public library system in Lexington, Ky.
McClure is the wife of former Republican lieutenant governor Mead Treadwell.
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.
