Less than two weeks after having its funding temporarily cut by the state, the Fairhope Public Library is getting recognized by city leaders.

The City of Fairhope announced the Fairhope Library Board as its 2025 Volunteer of the Year. The recognition was made official on Monday, one week after a large crowd of library supporters showed up at a Fairhope City Council meeting to rally support for the local board and push back against attempts to cut the library’s funding.

“I think it’s more about supporting our volunteers who often deal with controversy,” Fairhope Mayor Sherry Sullivan said, citing other volunteer groups with the city as well such as the historic preservation and planning commission.

“It is about celebrating the people who started volunteering for their love of the library of the city and how their role sometimes takes a dramatic turn, but they continue to serve and we appreciate them for being willing to serve through adversity,” Sullivan said.

The Fairhope Public Library saw its state funding cut last month by the Alabama Public Library Services (ALPS) board after hearing complaints about the type of books shelved within the library by the conservative activist group, Moms for Liberty.

It was the first time APLS cut funding to a local library in Alabama since the new administrative code was adopted last year. The APLS board had decided to suspend the funding temporarily to the Fairhope Public Library “due to non-compliance” of the code section that prohibits what is viewed as “sexually explicit” materials within the children’s and teen’s sections.

The Fairhope Library Board, which runs on a budget of more than $1 million annually, receives approximately $43,000 from the state. In the days after the state cut, an online fundraiser was able to raise enough money to replace the lost revenue.

The Library Board will consider whether to review approximately 35 titles, most of which are books, during its April 21 meeting. The 35 titles include publications listed by Moms for Liberty and other organizations as problematic for shelving in sections of the library for people under age 18.