Thursday evening, news began spreading. By Friday, rumors had begun circulating.

Library courier service had stopped. It seemed unlikely that services would be established immediately. According to some sources on social media, the entire Baldwin County Library Cooperative was let go.

As a book lover and library supporter, my curiosity was piqued. I tried to investigate, but besides hearsay, I found no reputable sources or information explaining what happened.

My curiosity was shared by others, such as library card holder Cinde Pettey, who sent an email saying, “I just saw someone post on Nextdoor that the Baldwin County Library Cooperative has been shut down. Since there is no information about why on their web pages, it might be a story worth investigating so the correct information gets out to the public.”

So, what is happening at the Baldwin County Library Cooperative? Unfortunately, the answer is still being investigated.

“The Baldwin County Library Cooperative is overseen by a separate board in charge of the daily operations, including hiring and firing personnel,” Taylor Bufkin, public information and communications specialist with Baldwin County Commission, told Gulf Coast Media. “Last Wednesday, that board terminated the entire staff of the BCLC effective immediately.”

On Wednesday, May 22, an emergency meeting was called by the South Baldwin Library Cooperative Board who then terminated six positions. According to Bufkin, Baldwin County Commission was not involved in the decision.

“The Baldwin County commissioners have taken absolutely no action to discontinue any support to the library cooperative,” Bufkin said.

While information on what happened hasn’t been released, Baldwin County Commission is taking steps to reinstate library services and mitigate disruptions.

“We are looking into why such actions were taken; however, in the meantime, the county commission staff is working directly with the member library directors to minimize the disruption of joint library services,” Bufkin said. “The courier service, the service that shares resources among the libraries, is being reestablished this week. Certain other services will take some more time to reinstate.”