HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-21-2023 Fairhope Library Board of Trustees Meeting Minutesfairhope public library
FHPL Board of Trustees Meeting
Monday, August 21, 2023
Attendance: Anne John son , Debra Langham , Andy Parvin , Dan Stankowski and City Council
Lia son Jimmy Conyers, Library Director Tamara Dean
Absent : Randal Wright
Call to order at 4 :02PM and promptly approved the m i nutes from the June meeting. Tamara
introduced some encouraging statistics regarding vi sits to the library. La st year we had
appro ximately 156,000 vi sits and this year with two months remaining in the fi scal year we are
at 151,000 . As well , our ju st concluded summer reading program was very well attended .
Staffing : There i s a need to hire two people in Circulation and one person for Youth Services .
We lost some talented people with school starting and are optimistic we will find suitable
replacements . All three statistical and financial reports were accepted by the Board .
Old Business : 1) City Budget Meeting-very positive meeting with the city about our budget for
the new fiscal year, which will be voted on in Septembe r and take effect in October. Socialized a
5% inc r ease in salary, which will get staff pay up to $15 .00 per hour which is important for
retention. We also let the city know that we are utilizing 42 % more of our deferred revenues
than we did last year (city is in favor of judicious use of deferred revenue to cover current
needs). 2) Capital Campaign-we have requested an additional $50,000 contribution from both
the ci ty and Fairhope Single Tax Corporation (FSTC). Both requests were received positively.
FSTC ha s voted affirmatively for the increase . These contributions would get us to our campaign
target of $1 ,010,000 .
New Business : 1) Alabama Super Computer Authority (ASCA) needs a letter from FHPL
certifyi ng that we provide CIPA filtering (Children's Internet Protection Act). We do provide this
filtering and a letter will be sent to ASCA stating that. The Board voted to affirm this and the
Cha i r is drafting the letter. 2) PNC Bank has asked for approval of a credit card to be issued in
our correct name -Fairhope Public Library. The Board voted to affirm thi s and the Chair is
drafting the letter to PNC. 3) The Board of Trustee s ac cepted a Public Participation Policy for our
regularly scheduled meetings . We encourage partic i pation and input from the community and
a copy of the policy will be at the front desk of FHPL. Participating speakers w i ll be given three
m i nutes at the beginning of the meeting and must be re sidents of the City of Fairhope .
The meeting concluded with a discussion about libraries being in the spotlight with regard to
content provided and how spotlighted content might be displayed . Every meeting attendee
shared their insights . It was agreed that Tamara would also have a similar conversation with our
staff and from all of the input we would develop a policy that works best for everyone.
The meeting was adjourned at 5:20 PM.
Respectfully submitted , Andy Parvin