Last year was a controversial year for Alabama libraries, more so in some municipalities than others.
As 1819 News has reported, the Athens-Limestone Public Library has been cited by the Limestone County community for not following its own written policies and for siloing the leadership of the Library Board of Trustees to the City of Athens, even though a 2001 resolution specifies the makeup of the board consist of three members from the City of Athens and two members from the County of Limestone.
Now, in 2025, the Limestone County Commission is taking a step to bring the Board of Trustees into alignment with the original 2001 resolution. Limestone County Commissioner Collin Daly called a special meeting on Monday at 3:00 p.m. to discuss the potential return to a joint library board.
The notice reads, "Notice is hereby given of a specially called meeting of the Limestone County Commission to be jointly held with the City Council for the City of Athens, Alabama for the purpose of the consideration of the creation of a joint library service and board. Said meeting is held pursuant to [S]11-3-8 of the Code of Alabama of 1975, as amended. The agenda of the special meeting shall include the consideration of the adoption of the Joint Library Service Agreement, establishing a joint library service and board. The meeting shall be held on Monday, January 6, 2025, at 3:00 p.m. at the Commission Chambers located at the Clinton Street Courthouse Annex, 100 South Clinton Street, 2nd Floor, Athens, AL 35611."
Limestone County resident Elizabeth Stewart has been an advocate for the integrity of the Athens-Limestone Public Library and a passionate petitioner to ensure the citizens of Limestone County have proper representation.
Stewart told WAAY News that Limestone County encompasses 120,000 residents, yet only 30,000 live within the city limits. That leaves 90,000 people who pay taxes for the library but are not properly represented by the Board of Trustees.
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Stewart has rallied other Limestone constituents to attend the Monday meeting and stand in support of fixing the Library Board composition. Stewart shared the email with 1819 News.
Email reads as follows:
“Good morning Joyful Warriors,
“Many of you know that Moms for Liberty - Madison, AL and other conservative groups have worked very hard over the last year to clean up the Athens-Limestone Library policy and fix the board composition. The policy is much improved and now aligns with newly adopted standards from APLS to protect minors from obscenity. The Athens-Limestone Library Board is still appointed exclusively by Athens City Council and Athens City has rejected the County's attempts at selecting board members in the past year.
“On January 6th, 2025, the Limestone County Commission and Athens City Council will be meeting to draft a Joint Resolution for the library. Going back to a Joint Resolution from the current Municipality will allow the Limestone County Commission to make appointments again. Below is the notice with the location for the meeting. Please consider attending if you can.
“We are asking all Limestone County residents to email the County Commissioners and ask for a few key things. Please use the email addresses below to contact the County Commission and request the following:
The library board remains at five seats. We do not want or need additional seats added to oversee one library; representation should match funding.
Require the Joint Resolution to include term limits. The current Chair is in his 15th consecutive year - this needs to stop.
Require all appointees to live within Limestone County. We have a current board member that moved out of Limestone and stayed on the board.
After the joint Athens City Council and Limestone County Commission meeting, the Athens-Limestone Public Library Board of Trustees will meet at 4:00 p.m. in the library meeting room 603 S Jefferson Street in Athens.
Jennifer Oliver O'Connell, As the Girl Turns, is an investigative journalist, author, opinion analyst, and contributor to 1819 News, Redstate, and other publications. Jennifer writes on Politics and Pop Culture, with occasional detours into Reinvention, Yoga, and Food. You can read more about Jennifer's world at her As the Girl Turns website. You can also follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Telegram.
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