Alabama Public Library Service Board to hold hearing on rules that could affect book access

The state agency overseeing public libraries is set to host a hearing Tuesday on rules that could alter the availability of books in libraries around the state.

The Alabama Public Library Service Board will solicit comment for changing the administrative code following a directive from Gov. Kay Ivey in October. Board members will make a final decision on Ivey’s recommendations at a future meeting, possibly one in mid-May.

“I am looking forward to hearing from the people of Alabama tomorrow,” said John Wahl, an APLS board member and chair of the Alabama Republican Party, in an interview on Monday. “This is an incredibly important issue, and I think, for every single board member, we want to hear the opinions of the people we represent across the state.”

Scores of people are expected to weigh in, with dozens more having submitted written comments.

The meeting comes amid right-wing attacks on library content and leadership around the country, often over the presence of books that reference LGBTQ+ people or themes.

In Prattville last year, a parent who objected to a book that contained inclusive pronouns contacted other parents to form an organization called Clean Up Alabama that demanded restrictions on the materials. An opposition group called Read Freely Alabama, that urged leaders to allow the challenged books to remain in place, accusing opponents of attempting to censor books with LGBTQ+ people.

In a letter last September to APLS Executive Director Nancy Pack, Gov. Kay Ivey urged APLS to adopt policies largely similar to Clean Up Alabama’s proposals. In response, Pack cited policies APLS had in place while also stating that parents are largely responsible for selecting materials for their children to read.

Among them is that libraries have rules in place that encourage parents to visit the library with their children. Some libraries have adopted rules that bar youth from visiting a library without a parent accompanying them until they are at least 17 years old.

Ivey recommended disassociating with the American Library Association, which board members voted to do in January, as well as relocating specific books believed to be sexually explicit or inappropriate to a different section of the library away from children.

The library board is working on a process to review complaints from parents concerning specific books, but the procedure does not discern if the complaints are valid or made in good faith.

Her proposal also added a section in the administrative code that states, “Exercising discretion in the location of sexually explicit material or other material deemed by the public library board to be inappropriate for children or youth does not constitute a denial of service on the basis of age.’

Some library officials have questioned whether the proposed rules are necessary.

“I have never seen anything like what has happened in over a year,” said Craig Scott, president of the Alabama Library Association and director of the Gadsden Public Library. “We are not pornographers. We do not have smut in our kid’s departments.”

APLS board member Amy Minton, who filed challenges to books in Etowah County, said she supports the recommended changes to better align library policies to state law but is also willing to hear what people have to say.

She referred to several bills, such as one that defines gender, as well as one banning public funding for diversity, equity and inclusion programs and the teaching of so-called “divisive concepts” that could potentially affect the presence of books.

“Should books like that still be in our public libraries?” she said.

Clean Up Alabama convinced Autauga County Commission to appoint members sympathetic to their organization to the local library board. The new board, adopted policies that further restrict access to materials that highlight what they consider sexually explicit, but also materials dealing with gender identity and sexual orientation.

Read Freely Alabama, for its part, has been vehemently against the efforts of Clean Up Alabama.

“From what I understand, the letters that have poured in for this public comment session have been overwhelmingly in our favor,” said Angie Hayden, one of the leaders of Read Freely Alabama. “I now have concerns that process, that democratic process, is going to be ignored and subverted, and manipulated as well.”

Supporters of Read Freely Alabama, along with a significant proportion of library officials, say the proposed changes use unclear language.

“These vague policies about inappropriateness in content make it even easier to have their personal beliefs influence what is available in these libraries,” Hayden said.

First Amendment experts said that people cannot discriminate based on viewpoint, and many of the rules that have been implemented may do just that.

Removing books because of references to gender and sexual orientation could amount to viewpoint discrimination, and free speech experts have pointed to several cases that invoke that precedent when some tried to restrict access to materials.

The rules are also unnecessary, according to Scott, who said that librarians have been shifting books into different sections based on how appropriate they are for years.

More than 80 people have been scheduled to speak during Tuesday’s hearing, which is expected to continue throughout the day.