Skip to main content
Fairhope Public Library

Claire Oaks

oaksbighair.jpg oakswithstaff.jpg

To say that Fairhope was ready for a progressive forward-thinking liberated feminist for a librarian would be a gross overstatement. Claire Oaks was a librarian's librarian. She advocated and pushed for things she believed in and the things that the community desired without worrying about her position as the librarian. As it turns out, The Joy of Sex was the tipping point between Mayor James Nix and Oaks. It was all aired out in New Yorker piece by Calvin Trillin. Unfortunately, Oaks ended up on the losing end of the good ole' boy political network that led to her termination. Not once, but twice!