Justin Strickland elected chair as board authorizes $13,000 for Booked 2027 fundraiser

At a meeting of the Citrus County library advisory board, members elected Justin Strickland chair by a 5–4 ballot and later authorized the release of $13,000 to fund the Booked 2027 fundraiser.

Nominations for chair were opened and ballots distributed. The ballots were read aloud into the record; the tally announced by the meeting facilitator was: "5 votes for Justin Strickland and 4 votes for James." The facilitator declared that "Justin would become your new chair," and the meeting was handed to him.

The board then opened nominations for vice chair. With a single nominee on the table, the board closed nominations and took a voice vote to affirm the nominee; the chair announced, "mister Parrada is vice chair." The record shows the vice chair nomination was affirmed by the board without a roll-call tally.

Later in the agenda the board considered funding for the Booked 2027 fundraising event, proposed for Feb. 20, 2027 at the Homosassa Public Library with a fundraising goal of $25,000. A motion "to authorize the chair to release $13,000 for the restricted purpose of use on the Booked fundraiser" was moved and seconded and carried by voice vote; the meeting minutes record the motion as passing.

The board set its next regular meeting for June 23 at 9 a.m. and adjourned.

Why it matters: leadership changes determine who runs meetings and sets short-term priorities for the library system; the $13,000 authorization gives staff and the event committee budgeted resources to lock vendors and supplies for the February fundraiser.