HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-01-2025 Fairhope Library Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes
Minutes of the Fairhope Library Board of Trustees Meeting
Monday, December 1, 2025
4::00pm
Present:
Trustees Randal Wright, Dan Stankoski, Andy Parvin, Anne Johnson, Debra Langham,
Library Director Rob Gourlay, City Council Liaison Andrea Faust Booth and Friends
Representative Nan Denson
Absent:
The meeting was called to order at 4:02pm by Board Chair Randal Wright.
The minutes of the October 20, 2025, Board meeting were reviewed and approved. The
monthly statistical, employee and financial reports were reviewed and approved.
Director’s Note
The Makerspace is up and running and art classes (a partnership with the Eastern Shore Art
Center) are popular and fill up fast. Library staff are working on an analysis of the “standing
author” program for possible updating. These are standard orders for books by popular authors,
but which need to be reviewed from time-to-time to reflect community interests. Two author
presentations in October brought in crowds as did participation in the Fairhope Film Festival
(583 attendees at several films). Annual staff evaluations are underway, and the local authors
space planning is moving forward.
Old Business
1. APLS Report – Director Gourlay and Board Chair Wright attended the Nov 20th APLS
Board meeting with the expectation that a decision about ongoing State Aid to the
library would be made. It was postponed by APLS Chairman John Wahl despite a vote to
reinstate funding (2 Board members approved, 2 abstained and 2 voted against with
Wahl the deciding vote).
The Fairhope Library Board has also learned that the remaining State Funds (over
$20,000) due to Fairhope were distributed to the other libraries in Baldwin County.
New Business
1. Board Chair Wright thanked city councilman Jimmy Conyers for his years serving as
Council liaison and welcomed new liaison Andrea Faust Booth.
2. Library Board meetings for the coming year were approved. Those dates are:
Feb 2, 2026
April 20, 2026
June 15, 2026
Aug 17, 2026
Oct 19, 2026
Dec 7, 2026
3. Check presentation – as State Aid funding was not reinstated, donations of funds
received by Read Freely Alabama and EveryLibrary (collected via a fundraising campaign
in the spring) were distributed to the Friends of the Fairhope Library in the amount of
$42,230. The funds will go directly to the library. Read Freely representatives Elizabeth
Williams and Angie Hayden were in attendance at the presentation.
A donation of $10,000 from the Sybil and White Smith Foundation was also presented to
the library.
A big thank you to all the donors and supporters of the Fairhope Public Library.
The meeting adjourned at 4:30 with no comments from the public.
Respectfully submitted,
Anne Johnson