Photo by Sarah Owens
Paul Doran, emeritus trustee of the Homewood Public Library Board, received national recognition when the American Library Association named him the recipient of its prestigious 2025 Trustee Citation Award.
Paul Doran never sought the spotlight during his 15 years on the Homewood Public Library board — but this year, it found him. His decades of unwavering dedication to the library received national recognition when the American Library Association named Doran the recipient of its prestigious 2025 Trustee Citation Award, an honor reserved for a single individual out of more than 60,000 public library trustees across the United States.
It’s a recognition Doran humbly accepts.
“That was different,” he said of receiving the award. “I thank our director and her staff for putting all that together, and I deeply appreciate that, but it was a total shock and surprise … I don't know how you evaluate down from 60,000 board members to one. I don't know how you do that.”
Doran’s modesty is matched only by his long record of service. Since 2010, he has served on the board of the Homewood Public Library. After completing the maximum number of terms, the board amended its bylaws to name him the only emeritus trustee in the library’s history.
His leadership spans far beyond simple board duties. Doran helped form the Homewood Library Foundation, an independent fundraising entity that has grown from five founding members to 45. “I brought that idea up in a board meeting,” he recalled. “And so I waited a few months … and I said, well, if y'all don't mind, I'll just do it. So that's how it happened.”
Through the foundation and his advocacy, Doran has been instrumental in pushing forward vital improvements, such as the 2020 computer lab expansion. “We called it the dungeon,” said Library Director Judith Wright, describing the old basement computer lab. Thanks to Doran’s persistence and persuasive diplomacy with city officials, the library now boasts a state-of-the-art technology center, complete with a spacious layout and additional study rooms.
“The library board, led by Paul, advocated for years to get the city to see the need to have a state of the art technology facility,” Wright said.
“The key to any organization that is run by the government is to get the funds in order to do what you need to do,” Doran said. “Our directors have been very successful on that. Can we use more funding? Yes, and the more funding we get, the better we're going to make things.”
His leadership also extends to honoring others. After the lab’s completion, Doran led the effort to name it in honor of retiring director Deborah Fout, a gesture that underscored his belief in recognizing the service of others. “That just kind of shows that he's making sure that the people who have done so much service to the library are being recognized,” Wright added.
Doran’s experience includes a teaching career that spanned over three decades, where he taught statistics, accounting and economics at Jefferson State Community and other institutions. His path to library leadership began indirectly — through civic involvement in Hoover and a chance conversation with a neighbor in Homewood. From that conversation emerged a new chapter in community service.
“I don't need to be the star of the show. I fit in. I can merge in and be a wallflower if I need to be” Doran said. “I always enjoy when I get to have my say … but this has been a really good, good thing for me to do.”
Wright said Doran’s support and attention to detail helped her become a better administrator.
“He's very modest, but really it's easy to see why he stood out of every single library board trustee in the United States, because there are some amazing trustees that I have seen, but he is here every day,” Wright said. “He talks to the staff. He cares. When he was board chair, he signed every library bill, he asked me questions, he made me a better director for the questions he asked me. And I just appreciate that attention, but I also appreciate knowing that he had our back, he had my back, and that that library board was 1,000% behind us.”
In turn, Doran credits the library staff for their hard work and dedication, saying it’s been a team effort to create such a strong library.
A public reception will be held in Doran’s honor on Friday, July 11, from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at the Homewood Public Library.
