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All six employees of the Baldwin County Library Cooperative were fired last week in a move that apparently came as a surprise to the Baldwin County Commission.
“It’s important to note that the Baldwin County Commission has not taken any action to discontinue any support to the library cooperative, however, Commission staff is actively investigating the circumstances surrounding this decision,” the commission released in a statement Tuesday. “Most importantly, the Commission staff is working with member library directors to mitigate the disruptions in joint library services.”
It’s still unclear what led to the mass termination last week, but the abrupt loss of staff has caused the cooperative’s services to be temporarily defunct.
Unlike county systems in other areas of the state, the Baldwin County Library Cooperative is not one county body funding and overseeing all libraries in the county. Instead, it is used by the individual municipal libraries for services including interlibrary loans, so patrons of one Baldwin County library can borrow a book from another Baldwin County library if needed.
The commission said that vital service will be restored this week, while other services such as the bookmobile may take longer to restart.
Sources familiar with the situation told APR that the move is not related to ongoing book challenges facing libraries across the state, but no details have been revealed as to what caused the mass firing.
APR had heard rumors for weeks that the cooperative was considering dissolving entirely.
The cooperative held an emergency meeting on Wednesday to fire the staff.
