For immediate release

Lake Forest Library
360 E Deerpath Rd
Lake Forest IL 60045
847.234.0636
www.lakeforestlibrary.org

Contact

Joy Schmoll
Head of Communications
847.810.4622
jschmoll@lakeforestlibrary.org

April 11, 2023 – LAKE FOREST Ill – The Lake Forest Library Board voted unanimously in favor of selecting Ishwar Laxminarayan as the next Executive Director of Lake Forest Library effective May 1, 2023. Laxminarayan will replace Interim Executive Director David Seleb, who has served the Library since January 2023.

"The Library Board was fortunate to have had several excellent and highly qualified candidates to choose from following a nationwide search," Library Board President John F. Johnson said. "The extensive interview process revealed that Ishwar understands the challenges of library leadership and values community relationships."

Laxminarayan has wide experience in library administration, strategic planning, facilities maintenance, and community engagement with libraries in the United States and India. His career in India included progressively responsible roles with the libraries of the United States Information Agency in Kolkata, Chennai, and Mumbai. For more than twelve years, he served as director of the Jackson District Library and William P. Faust Public Library of Westland, both in Michigan. Most recently, Laxminarayan was a Library Consultant with The Ivy Group that assists libraries in strategic planning, community engagement, and marketing. His first position after moving to the United States was at Warren Newport Public Library in Gurnee, Illinois, and he has also worked at the Norfolk Public Library in Virginia and the OCLC Online Computer Library Center based in Ohio.

Laxminarayan has a master's degree in librarianship from Emory University and undergraduate degrees from the University of Calcutta in India. He was selected by the Public Library Association for its inaugural Leadership Fellowship at Harvard University and has been active in local, state, regional, and national library organizations.

"I am humbled to have been selected as the new Executive Director of Lake Forest Library and look forward eagerly to working with its excellent staff and dedicated Board of Trustees to implement several exciting initiatives," Laxminarayan said. "I can’t wait to learn more about this wonderful community and meet all the great people that call it home."

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