FAIRHOPE, Ala. — “We’ve got a long list of petitioners,” City Council President Bob Gentle said Monday night. “Have we got a spokesperson?”

Tanner Vincent, 12, and Harrison Tarabella, 12, walked to the podium as Gentle spoke and then stood together, facing the raised dais.

Gentle asked if one the students was the spokesperson.

Vincent said, “Yes,” and addressed the council.

“We believe that we should be allowed to use the public library when we are in middle school as long as we behave and follow the rules,” Vincent said, reading from a handwritten statement. “Thomas Hospital lets us take the babysitting class when we are 11 years old, so we should also be allowed to use the library if we are old enough to responsible for a child.”

The petition presented to the City Council Monday had 100 signatures on five pages.

“This is a small town with not much to do, and we have a brand new library that we are old enough to use.” Vincent continued. “We don’t want our moms or dads to have to come with us to watch us, and some of our parents work, so they can’t come with us anyway.”

After Vincent spoke, Gentle suggested the students meet with the Fairhope Public Library board of directors to discuss their petition.

Representatives from the library were in the audience and agreed to put the issue on the board’s July agenda, stating that the students had not first formally approached the library board with their petition or request.

“I want to thank these young people,” Councilman Cecil Christenberry said. “I applaud them for going through the process.”

The audience then applauded the students.

The petition presented to the council stated: “We believe that as long as we follow the rules and do not cause a disturbance, the sixth and seventh grade students in the city of Fairhope are responsible enough to use the new Fairhope Public Library without their parents present.”

The current age for unsupervised use of the library is 13, the library’s director said after the meeting.

In other business, the council:

• Authorized City Clerk Lisa Hanks to perform all duties regarding management of this year’s municipal elections that would ordinarily be performed by Mayor Tim Kant, who is running for a third term.

Hanks, who has been assistant city clerk since June 2007, was appointed City Clerk earlier this month following the June 3 death of City Clerk Geniece Johnson. The clerk position serves at the pleasure of the City Council. After the municipal election, the new City Council will appoint a City Clerk.

“Lisa has done a great job filling in while Geniece has been out,” Council President Gentle said. “I think she will continue to do a great job for the council and the residents of Fairhope.”

Hanks is a native of Mobile County, where she graduated from Murphy High School in 1980 and graduated Cum Laude from the University of South Alabama with a bachelor of science in human resources administration in 1996, according to a city news release.

She obtained Certified Professional Secretary (CPS) status in 1993 and is co-author of an article relating to sexual harassment behaviors in a manufacturing environment published in the Journal of Business and Psychology in 2002, according to the release.

She is a member of Christ United Methodist Church and participates in charity events, such as St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and United Cerebral Palsy, throughout Baldwin and Mobile counties, the release stated.

More on the June 23 City Council meeting will be reported in Saturday’s newspaper.