Library commission recommends dropping 20% sales fee for author events, urges clearer wording for media sales

Fairbanks — The Library and Literacy Commission of the Fairbanks North Star Borough on March 12 recommended that the library director remove a sentence in the programming policy that required authors to donate 20% of proceeds from book and CD sales to the library.

The recommendation, made after public comment and staff discussion, passed 6-0. Commissioners also voted 6-0 to change the policy wording that refers to “CD” sales to instead say “other media,” and earlier in the meeting recommended, by 5-1 vote, minor edits to spelling and to clarify the selection committee’s meeting schedule.

The change sought by a member of the public, Elise Guttenberg, came during the Citizens’ Comments portion of the meeting. “So what I’m asking you to do with that policy is simply delete the very last section where it reads, ‘from which a portion of the proceeds must benefit the library,’ and no longer include it because this author series already benefits the library,” Guttenberg said by phone.

Library staff confirmed how any collected proceeds are used. “As far as where the money goes, it is specified in here that it goes back to the libraries for the materials purchase fund,” Library Director Jamia Alexander Ball said during questions from commissioners.

Mayor Grier Hopkins, who attended the meeting, told commissioners the administration had discussed options and presented three approaches for the commission’s consideration: keep the current rule, exempt only partner organizations (the Library Foundation and Friends of the North Pole Library), or exempt all visiting authors. He said the administration would accept the commission’s recommendation.

Commissioners debating the motion cited the small amount of revenue historically collected and the value of encouraging local authors and foundation programming. Staff reported that author events organized by library staff in August generated “a total of over a hundred dollars” in proceeds that were processed under the current policy.

The commission’s action is a recommendation to the library director; it does not itself change borough policy. The director will decide whether to implement the recommended edits, and the commission may request the item return to a future agenda for further refinement.

Votes at a glance: - Recommend deletion of 20% donation sentence from programming policy — Motion: recommend removal; mover: not specified in transcript; second: not specified; vote: 6 yes, 0 no; outcome: recommendation to director. - Amend programming policy wording: replace “CD” with “other media” — Motion: recommend wording change; mover: not specified; second: not specified; vote: 6 yes, 0 no; outcome: recommendation to director. - Recommend minor edits (spelling) and add language clarifying selection committee timing — Motion: Mary Priest (mover) to recommend staff changes; second: not specified; vote: 5 yes, 1 no; outcome: recommendation to director.

What commissioners said and asked during the discussion focused on equity between library-run programs and foundation-sponsored events, the administrative burden on small or self-published authors to account for sales, and whether exempting the library’s partner organizations would be preferable to exempting all visiting authors. Staff said there has been no broad pattern of outside vendors using library meeting rooms as storefronts and that invited author events have been infrequent.

Next steps: The commission forwarded its recommendations to the library director for a formal policy decision and left open the option of returning the item to a future meeting if the director requests further guidance.