Alabama Public Library Service (APLS) chairman John Wahl said all libraries, including the Fairhope Public Library, should be safe for children. After watching part of a Fairhope City Council meeting on Tuesday night, he said some things needed to be clarified.
"We want to make sure that every single family in the state of Alabama is welcome in our libraries, and that's what APLS codes were designed to do," Wahl said.
The Fairhope Public Library's state funding has been paused pending the completion of book reviews. Some citizens accused the APLS of pulling funding because the library refused to remove the books "Sold" and "Grown."
Wahl said the library did not lose funding because it had two challenged books, but because concerned parents were unable to submit books for review.
"The Fairhope Library had multiple books that contained extremely vulgar and sexually explicit content," he explained. "To make this about one or two books that may have literary value is dishonest."
Wahl has had cordial discussions with city officials and library leaders in Fairhope.
"My goal is still that the Fairhope Library will come in full compliance with APLS code, and I strongly encourage them to listen to the people of Fairhope and serve parents and address both sides of this issue," he said. "The APLS codes were originally designed to allow parents who wanted access to this content to have it, while at the same time respecting families who were concerned about their children and accidentally stumbling across inappropriate material in use sections."
The APLS board has not yet ruled on future funding and is awaiting Fairhope's completion of its review process. He said the APLS is also working on an appeal process to ensure libraries can access the board and the necessary information.
Still, Wahl was pleased to see public engagement regarding libraries and hoped the city council would hear both sides before making the right decisions. He believes the majority of Fairhope residents want to protect children.
"It's very important that we listen to the public," Wahl said. "It's very important that government listens to the public when making decisions. The vast majority of Alabama parents and Fairhope parents want to see our libraries safe places for our children, and any sexually explicit material moved out of children's sections where children could accidentally stumble upon it."
Read Freely Baldwin County chapter founder Elizabeth Williams said there are issues with the APLS definition of what qualifies as inappropriate. Wahl said there should be no question about what is and is not allowed, and that there are no loopholes.
"The insinuation that sexually explicit is hard to define is ridiculous," he said. "We all know what sexual content is — our society has shielded children from it since the beginning of time."
"There is no intellectually honest argument that libraries somehow don't understand what constitutes obscene or sexually explicit," Wahl continued. "This is a disingenuous argument, and it is insulting to the intelligence of librarians and government officials across the state."
Wahl believes there has been a national push from the nation's largest educational institutions and the American Library Association to introduce children to woke ideology.
"The former president of American Library Association openly admitted that she was a Marxist and encouraged libraries to push an agenda on the local level," he said. "This is incredibly concerning, and it's one of the things that really caught the attention of parents across the country as they started to find more and more socialist and sexually explicit content in local libraries."
The APLS is in contact with other libraries across the state that are working on compliance.
"It's important for me that we give any library the chance to address the issue on the local level," Wahl said. "However, if concerned citizens are refused a regressive grievance at their local library, I would encourage them to bring that to the APLS board so we can make sure state code is being followed and every library in the state of Alabama is in compliance."
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