HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-02-2024 Fairhope Public Library Board of Trustees MinutesFairhope Public Library Board of Trustees
Regularly scheduled Meeting on Monday, December 2, 2024
Giddens Conference Room
Called to Order at 4:01 by Board Chair Anne Johnson
ATTENDANCE: Anne Johnson, Debra Langham, Dan Stankoski, Randal Wright, Andy
Parvin, Tamara Dean, Director of the Fairhope Public Library, and Rob Gourlay,
Assistant Director of the Fairhope Public Library. Also present for the meeting were
approximately 40 observers.
MINUTES: Minutes from the regularly scheduled October 21, 2024 meeting were
unanimously approved.
REPORTS: Monthly Statisticals, Employee Report, and the Financial Statement
were reviewed and briefly discussed. A motion was made to accept the three reports,
seconded and passed unanimously.
OLD BUSINESS: 1) Implementation of New Policies Report from Director Dean and
Assistant Director Gourlay. One aspect of the new policies requires all parents to
sign a waiver giving their child access to specific book collections in the library. It
was reported that 250 parents had signed up and 56% of those 250 had given their
child access to all book collections, Youth to Adult. 20% of the 250 gave access up
to and including the Teen collection. One parent offered a complaint—they said it
was an inconvenience for them. The changes were well advertised prior to the
deadline in October and there were no other complaints.
2) Clarification of Reconsideration when a patron wants to appeal the decision
made by the library director. When a person who files the reconsideration form
does not agree with the director’s decision and wants to request an appeal the
decision then rests with the Board of Trustees. In December of 2023 there were
several books submitted for reconsideration and Director Dean decided t hat each
book was in the right location and determined to deny the requests to move the books.
The Board of Trustees voted unanimously to accept that decision. There exists some
misunderstanding about that vote. Some Trustees thought that vote stood for all
reconsideration forms going forward. Other Trustees thought that vote was only for
that group of books being reconsidered in December of 2023. Chair Johnson
suggested the Board review how they will consider appeals for reconsideration in the
future keeping the new APLS Administrative Code changes in mind. Councilman Jimmy
Conyers, the City Council’s Liaison with the Library Board , suggested a member of
the Board should read the book being appealed. Trustees Johnson and Wright will
research how other libraries manage appeals; review the policies and procedures of
the Board; make a recommendation for the Boards’ process for reconsideration
appeals in the future. All Trustees are encouraged to share ideas and concerns about
the process.
3) Update on Renovation information from Trustee Wright and Mr. Gourlay was
shared. The Friends’ Workroom has two bookshelf extensions to be installed and the
Teen Space and MakerSpace are still waiting for furniture. We are about ¾ of the
way complete…just waiting on some of the furniture and bookshelves.
NEW BUSINESS:
1) Conflict of Interest forms must be signed each year. Chair Johnson reminded us
of the importance of following ethics guidelines and distributed Conflict of Interest
forms to each Trustee. The forms were signed and returned to Chair Johnson.
2) Update on Baldwin County Library Cooperative (BCLC): Director Dean was
pleased to share that the Cooperative will no longer be asking ou r library to pay
15% of the cost of operating the Cooperative. The Baldwin County Commission has
assumed full responsibility for the cost of running the Cooperative.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:24
There were 14 requests to speak from the audience members.
Respectfully Submitted,
Randal H. Wright