The Free Library Foundation president Monique Moore Pryor is stepping down to tend to family matters, the foundation announced Thursday.
Her resignation is effective immediately.
“Serving as the president of the Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation has been one of the most exciting and rewarding experiences of my professional career,” Moore Pryor said in a statement.
She served as the foundation’s first executive and had been at the helm of the nonprofit fundraising arm of the Free Library since August 2023.
“I want to thank the leadership and staff of the Foundation and the Library for all the vital work we did together,” she said, “and I look forward to seeing all of the fantastic things they will do for Philadelphia in the future.”
When reached for comment, she would not elaborate on her statement.
Former Free Library Foundation board member Antoinette Brock Johnson will lead the foundation in the immediate future until an interim president is identified, board members announced at a staff meeting Thursday.
The foundation will begin a search to identify a permanent replacement for Pryor following the completion of a new strategic plan in the spring.
In her three-year tenure, Moore Pryor is credited with securing substantial grants, including nearly $750,000 in an unrestricted grant from the Kellogg Foundation to potentially fund resources and programming within the Free Library’s business and information centers.
But Moore Pryor’s time leading the foundation has been controversial since the beginning. Her leadership style, staff members said, led to the June 2024 resignation and subsequent firing of the Author Events team that hosted the biggest names in the publishing world, from Toni Morrison, to Jennifer Weiner, to Malcolm Gladwell at Parkway Central.
The four-person team tendered its collective resignation with four weeks notice because they disagreed with Moore Pryor’s programming direction and treatment of the staff.
At least 10 other staff members members have been fired or quit in the last year.
As a consequence, donors stopped writing checks to the foundation and authors like Weiner vowed they wouldn’t return to the Free Library’s stage. The staff departures have left local book communities with a sour taste that still lingers.
Moore Pryor appointed Daniel Blank, who holds a Ph.D. in literature from Princeton University, to lead Author Events. Under Blank and Moore Pryor’s leadership, the foundation instituted a $5 admission charge for all events — previously, most events were free to attend and for others, entry was the cost of a book. The move was criticized for creating “an unnecessary barrier to entry for one of the library’s most popular and influential programs.”
Corporate sponsors Fan Duel and Comcast began sponsoring Author Events. And heavy-hitting authors including Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Anthony Fauci, and Maria Shriver participated and were in conversation with local moderators, just as before.
Kelly Richards, who was hired as the Free Library’s executive director in 2020, appointed Moore Pryor, a West Philly native and former chief of engagement and external affairs at St. Francis College in Brooklyn, as the foundation’s first executive director in 2023.
Although separate entities, the Free Library and the Free Library Foundation used to operate as one, commingling money and resources. Moore Pryor’s position was created with an intent to separate the foundation and library funds.
She was named president in 2024.
During Moore Pryor’s time with the foundation, the Free Library has opened the bulk of its branches on Saturdays and renovated several buildings. She’s also credited with diversifying the foundation’s donor base and revenue sources.
In 2023, she launched the community impact awards that recognize the work of local leaders and organizations who have had a positive impact on the city’s literacy and education.
“We want to thank Monique for her partnership and wish her the best as she begins her next chapter,” said Jeffrey Benoliel, chairman of the Free Library Foundation Board, said in the statement. “We are excited about building on the progress of the last few years and will begin to search for a new president as the work continues on the strategic plan that will guide the library and foundation going forward.”
Staff writer Nate File contributed to this report.