Greta Southard

Director, Allen County Public Library, Fort Wayne, Indiana

Greta has spent the last 20 years focused on issues surrounding public libraries. She joined the Allen County Public Library (ACPL) as the Director in 2014. Before joining ACPL, Greta was the Director of the Boone County Public Library located in northern Kentucky.

Prior to that, she was the Executive Director of the Public Library Association (PLA), a division of the American Library Association. During her tenure at PLA, the association delivered numerous conferences, workshops, and training events; developed the Every Child Ready to Read initiative; developed Turning the Page, a multi-year $7.7 million training program for Gates Foundation grantees; and participated in the development of the Managing for Results publication series, along with a host of other accomplishments.

Prior to joining PLA, Greta worked for Mead Data Central (now LexisNexis), working with law schools and law firms to teach them the power of computerized legal research. Greta began her information career as a law librarian in Ohio working in county law libraries and in a private law firm library. This background of librarianship, nonprofit management, and private sector business experience informs her point of view of public library service delivery, management, staff development, and the forward-looking mission of the library.