MONTGOMERY — On Thursday, the Alabama Public Library Service (APLS) Board of Directors voted not to grant APLS director Nancy Pack a salary increase. Several members expressed skepticism about granting a raise when the board recently removed rural hotspot services after the legislature significantly cut funding last session.
Thursday’s APLS board meeting featured several interesting discussions, culminating in the election of Republican Party chairman and APLS District 5 board member John Wahl as the new chairman.
Before Wahl’s election, the board discussed the recent cut in funding from the Alabama Legislature.
Since Gov. Kay Ivey petitioned the APLS to address the ongoing state controversy surrounding sexually explicit books meant for children in public libraries, state lawmakers have also entered the fray.
Citizens first appealed to the APLS board last year after sexually explicit or LGBTQ+-affirming books were discovered in the children's and young adult sections of libraries across the state.
Many opposed to the books criticized Pack, claiming she appeared sympathetic to those fighting to keep the inappropriate materials.
SEE ALSO: State library director appears to have played a role in Madison, Millbrook library events
The legislature responded by cutting the APLS’s budget by 9% during the last legislative session, equaling just over $350,000.
During Thursday’s meeting, Pack stated that APLS would cut back on some programs, including $150,000 from an internet hotspot program that mainly served rural communities.
Then-chairman Ron Snider bemoaned the cuts, saying that the already “underfunded” agency was “cut to the bone.”
Not an hour later, however, Snider proposed a raise for Pack in addition to the 2% Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) given to all state employees during the 2024 legislative session.
Pack remained in the room while the board deliberated her potential pay increase, argued in favor of her own raise, and got into a tense exchange with Wahl.
Before deliberation, Snider announced that APLS sent an evaluation form to the board members to rate Pack’s performance. Each ranking went from zero to three. According to Snider, the average score was 1.78. Snider also stated that Wahl was the only board member not to submit his form. Wahl later said he didn’t submit the form due to formatting issues and technological malfunctions with the form that was sent out.
Snider recommended a “one-step increase” for Pack, remarking that, historically, pay increases have been two steps. Snider said the increase would be approximately $4,000. It’s unclear if that increase would apply to Pack’s total annual pay, which is listed as over $153,000 in the 2023 and 2024 fiscal years.
During the discussion, board member Amy Minton objected to the raise since the agency had just significantly cut funding from other programs.
“I don’t know if we should do that because the APLS budget is getting cut. Doesn’t that come out of that budget?” Minton asked.
“It’s approximately $4,000, but I think that she deserves that,” Snider responded.
Wahl also expressed skepticism about granting the raise in addition to the 2% COLA already given to Pack and every other state employee.
“I am probably a little bit harder-nose than some people,” Wahl said. “I’ve always been of the opinion that if you have to cut, especially if there’s a 2% [COLA] already that’s going to be taking place, I’m not sure that I can support an increase with the budget cuts.”
Pack interjected, boasting that she was responsible for getting the legislature down to a 9% budget cut from what was initially touted as an 18% cut. She also drew attention to the areas where she works outside public libraries.
Wahl attempted to interject and ensure Pack that his comments were not meant personally. Pack responded, sharply criticizing Wahl for not submitting an evaluation.
“Well, John, you didn’t evaluate, so I don’t know what you think of me,” Pack said. “In my opinion, John, you don’t have a right to speak because you didn’t evaluate,” Pack said.
While Wahl reiterated his technical issues with the form, Minton defended her and Wahl’s decision.
“Well, I did,” Minton retorted to Pack. “But I’ll just say, if any business loses 9%, I can’t vote to have a raise when the business has lost 9%.”
“But we were going to get 18%,” Snider responded.
“But we lost 9%,” Minton retorted.
After a brief period of members talking over one another, Snider called for a vote, which failed 4-3.
After the vote and 15 seconds of total silence, Snider said, “So we have three. " This was followed by another 10 seconds of silence before Snider begrudgingly announced that the vote had failed. After another 10 seconds of uncomfortable silence, the board moved on to the chairman election, where Wahl was selected as chairman and board member Jerria Martin as vice-chair.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email craig.monger@1819news.com.
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