Brian Bannon oversees the New York Public Library’s 88 neighborhood branches and leads its citywide reading and learning strategies. He guides teams that support more than a million New Yorkers each year through early literacy, school-age, teen, and adult learning programs. His work focuses on strengthening reading, language, and digital skills across communities and advancing NYPL’s role in expanding access to learning, reading, and community connection. Before joining NYPL in 2019, Bannon served as commissioner and chief executive officer of the Chicago Public Library, leading one of the country’s largest urban public library systems. He previously held leadership roles at the San Francisco Public Library, the Seattle Public Library, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Throughout his career, he has focused on expanding access to reading and education, building large-scale public programs, and positioning libraries as centers of opportunity and lifelong learning.