Category: Birmingham Public Library
Application Period for Library Board Closed Tuesday
Applications to become a member of the Birmingham Public Library’s board of trustees are due today at 5 p.m.
Three slots on the board are open now and terms for another three members expire at the end of the year.
The board has been controversial for more than a year as employees became discontent, the executive director was fired and, most recently, the board discussed closing several library branches. Read more.
Birmingham Library Delays Plans to Close Four Branches After City Officials Protest
The Birmingham Public Library Board of Trustees has delayed a proposed vote to shut down four library branches after receiving criticism from city leaders, including Mayor Randall Woodfin.
In a letter to BPL staff sent out Oct. 8, board President Eunice Johnson Rogers said the board would consider shutting down the BPL’s East Ensley, Ensley, North Avondale and Titusville locations during its Oct. 12 meeting.
“Now we are challenged with supporting Mayor Woodfin’s vision of decreasing the number of Birmingham Public Library physical locations,” Rogers wrote. “After careful consideration, the BPL Board of Trustees recommends the permanent closure of the East Ensley, Ensley, North Avondale and Titusville Branch Libraries. All branch libraries identified for closure are located less than three miles from another BPL location.”
Rogers’ letter said staff from those branches would be reassigned to work at the BPL’s Five Points West, Avondale and North Birmingham branches. Read more.
Birmingham Public Library Executive Director Resigns After Three Controversial Years
Floyd Council, executive director of the Birmingham Public Library, announced his resignation Tuesday morning after three embattled years on the job.
“After much prayer and consideration, I wanted you all to be the first to know that I will be announcing my resignation this week from my position as Executive Director of the Birmingham Public Library with plans to start the new year with other blessings and use of my gifts and talents to the Glory of God,” Council wrote on his Facebook page Tuesday morning. “Health, wellness and peace all come from God, not jobs, big salaries, and people.”
Council did not give any motive for his resignation. He had spent parts of October and November suspended without pay by the BPL board of trustees for undisclosed reasons, but had returned to the job last month. The board had been scheduled to evaluate Council’s performance during a personnel committee meeting on Dec. 17.
Read more.
Birmingham Library Exec Returns to Work After One-Month Suspension
Birmingham Public Library Executive Director Floyd Council was back at work Friday after one month of being suspended without pay.
Council was suspended by the BPL board of trustees last month for undisclosed reasons. As with most details regarding Council’s employment, the board refused to provide details about the decision to the public. The board did not discuss Council during its regular meeting Nov. 10.
Multiple BPL employees confirmed Council’s return to the library Friday, though under condition of anonymity. Read more.
Woodfin Says Sale of Parking Decks Would Lessen COVID-19’s Economic Damage
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin says the proposed sale of several city-owned parking decks is an opportunity to lessen the economic damage done to the city by COVID-19 — including bringing back furloughed public library employees.
Woodfin said in an interview with BirminghamWatch that the city received an unsolicited offer from Birmingham Economic Development Partners LLC — a group founded last month by Shipt founder Bill Smith, according to paperwork filed in Jefferson County Probate Court — to purchase six of the city’s 11 parking decks for a total of $41 million.
If the sale is approved by the City Council, the city could receive that money in one lump sum in 60 days — which could go a long way toward offsetting the $63 million budget shortfall caused by COVID-19. Among other things, Woodfin says, the money would go toward reinstating library employees who were furloughed as a result of severe budget cuts.
Read more.
Birmingham Library Executive Director Suspended Without Pay
Birmingham Public Library Executive Director Floyd Council has been suspended without pay for one month by the library system’s board of trustees, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the situation.
The decision was made in a library board meeting Tuesday. As with all personnel decisions, the board held the discussion and took the vote to suspend Council during a private executive session. Details of the suspension, including the reasoning behind it, were not immediately made public.
Deputy Director Janine Langston will take over as interim director. Read more.
Woodfin’s Constantly Changing Budget Leaves Library Board, City Council to Wonder: “What the Heck Is Going On?”
The future remains uncertain for the Birmingham Public Library and its 230 employees, thanks to city budget cuts necessitated by COVID-19.
And there have been no clear answers from Mayor Randall Woodfin regarding just how much money the library system will receive from the city, which will determine how many branches will have to close and how many employees have to be furloughed.
Or rather, as members of the BPL Board of Trustees remarked during a library board meeting Tuesday afternoon, there have been several clear answers from Woodfin, all of them dramatically different.
Read more.
