Hoover Library Board gains 2 new members

Cherinita Reese has gotten a strong taste of the publishing world by guiding her 9-year-old daughter through the publication and marketing of three books, and now she’s getting immersed into a broader world of books.

Reese is one of two Hoover residents recently appointed to the Hoover Library Board, which oversees a library with almost 300,000 books and other materials and the largest circulation of any single library location in the state.

The other new board member is Phil Hutcheson, the chief legal counsel and chief financial officer for Alabama Public Television.

Hutcheson and Reese are replacing two longtime board members, Eloise Martens and Sara Rast, both of whom stepped down after 36 and 13 years of service, respectively.

Reese works full-time as the senior director of care at Faith Chapel in Birmingham. She oversees community outreach, volunteerism and assimilation of members. 

She has been employed at the church in a variety of roles since 2008, including executive assistant to the chief executive officer, chief values officer and executive director of people development, before moving into her current role in 2018.

Reese has served as the church board of directors’ secretary for nine years, gaining experience in developing board policies, creating training sessions and working with corporate attorneys to draft policies and bylaws.

She also has been involved in different management seats at the church for 21 years, giving her an opportunity to participate inmultimillion-dollar budget allocations, oversee and establish policies to improve organizational culture, participate in hiring and training and help establish strategic direction for the church.

She believes her experience at the church will serve her well on the Library Board, Reese said.

Also, managing her daughter’s blooming author career has allowed her to build great relationships with schools, community leaders and the media and given her a wealth of knowledge about publishing, social media engagement and leveraging customer databases for maximum impact, she said.

Reese said she believes in the Hoover Public Library’s values of diversity, integrity, teamwork, community engagement, convenience and accessibility. She also believes her skill sets will help move the library’s technology initiatives forward.

Reese, 46, and her husband, Ronald, moved to Hoover’s Lake Cyrus community in 2011. They have two children, ages 9 and 7.

Hutcheson began his professional career as an accountant after graduating from Auburn University with a bachelor’s degree in accounting in 1980. After a couple years in public accounting, he decided to go to law school.

He graduated from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1984 and worked for Porterfield, Harper & Mills for about 10 years and then was a partner in the Boardman, Carr & Hutcheson law firm for about 12 years.

During the latter years, during Mayor Tony Petelos’ administration, Hutcheson performed some legal work for the city. One of his partners, Mark Boardman, was the city attorney.

But six years ago, Hutcheson moved to become the chief legal counsel and chief financial officer for Alabama Public Television, which had been one of his clients.

Hutcheson said that, while he won’t be serving as legal counsel for the library, his legal and financial background should help him with oversight duties as part of the Library Board.

He and his wife have been users of the library for a long time and both of their sons, now 24 and 22, practically grew up in the library. “It’s just such a great library,” he said.

He applied for the Library Board seat because he and his wife, Kathy, have enjoyed living in Hoover about 27 years and he wanted to give back. They live in the Green Valley community.

The first board meeting for Hutcheson and Reese was Jan. 15.