Charlotte Mecklenburg Library finds its next leader in the Pacific Northwest
Marcellus “MT” Turner will become Charlotte Mecklenburg Library’s next chief executive officer and chief librarian in April, the library announced Monday.
Turner has three decades of experience and most recently was the chief librarian at the Seattle Public Library for a decade.
“There is a tremendous opportunity to better understand and serve the evolving needs of Charlotte Mecklenburg, and I am committed to ensuring the Library supports, enhances and empowers the changing ways our residents live, learn and engage,” Turner said in a news release.
Before moving to Seattle in 2011, Turner previously served as executive director of the Jefferson County Public Library in Lakewood, Colo.
He earned his bachelor’s degree from Mississippi University for Women and a master’s degree in library science from the University of Tennessee.
Turner led the Seattle library through two successful “Levy measures” in his nearly 10-year tenure, Jay Reich, president of the system’s board of trustees, said in a statement. The library also helped address the digital equity gap in Seattle with the Wi-Fi HotSpot lending program, Reich said.
Turner will take on several initiatives at the library including diversity and equity efforts and fundraising for a $100 million, 115,000-square-foot main library in uptown Charlotte. Turner replaces Lee Keesler, who has led the library since 2012 and will retire on April 1.
Turner made about $198,000 in 2019 according to City of Seattle payroll data, the Seattle Times reported. Keesler earned $241,806 in 2019, according to an Observer database of Mecklenburg County employees.
The firm Coleman, Lew, Canny, Bowen led the national search along with a search committee made up of members of the library’s Board of Trustees, Library Foundation Board and County Leaders, the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library news release stated.
The Board of Trustees of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library unanimously approved Turner’s appointment.
This story was originally published February 8, 2021 at 2:14 PM.
