MONTGOMERY — The Alabama Public Library Service (APLS) once again voted to postpone a decision on funding the Fairhope Public Library. Board members sought more time to review materials provided by the local board. Meanwhile, APLS chairman John Wahl pleaded for both sides to come together to end the dangerous rhetoric that has led to him receiving a credible death threat.
Fairhope Public Library
Fairhope Public Library director Robert Gourlay and board members Randal Wright and secretary Anne Johnson attended the meeting to request that funding be resumed.
After hearing public comments, the APLS board met in the boardroom to discuss the measures taken in Fairhope. The library has reviewed 13 books and has moved seven of them from the teen section to the adult section.
Wright, the chairman of the board, said she believes some APLS board members are making decisions based on partisan positions. She requested a list of titles the APLS board wants moved and asked why Fairhope was being singled out.
Wahl said there isn't a list of titles but a clear definition of what is prohibited. He said Fairhope was the first library to lose funding because citizens approached the APLS after the local board failed to address their concerns.
"We were willing to talk about it, but they didn't come to us and ask us to do that. They didn't come to sit down to talk about it," Wright responded.
However, concerned citizens have been pleading with the library board and the Fairhope City Council to review what they believe are inappropriate materials since 2023.
Wright said the policy for book challenges was to review each challenged title every five years. Since many of the challenged books had already been reviewed and approved, the library did not revisit those titles after they were challenged again within those five years.
After funding was paused, the board voted to revisit the titles.
The rise in book challenges, Wright said, represents a misguided attempt to ban books on LGBTQ topics and racial diversity. She said books do not "damage teens," but "guns, food insecurity and the inability to read on grade level" do.
Wahl countered, saying no restrictions have been put on racial and LGBTQ content, only on sexually explicit obscenity.
Name-calling and a death threat
While Wright said those asking for books to be reviewed have called people in the audience of public meetings groomers and pedophiles, Wahl said he received a death threat last year.
"Look, this is a very simple concept, and I think we have created so much division through false information," Wahl said to Wright. "And I'm not going to defend – you talk about people who call people groomers. Look, I have had a death threat on my life, and I take that a little more seriously than I did two weeks ago. We have to stop the negative and we have to stop the lies."
After reporting the threat to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA), Wahl told 1819 News that investigators tracked the threat to a man in Maine. Wahl decided not to press charges, but said after the death of Charlie Kirk, he is taking threats more seriously.
Wahl said protecting children is the goal, similar to how Hollywood rates movies.
Wright said the problem is that the definition of "sexually explicit" is subjective. She said none of the books sexually arouses the reader.
"They might have a paragraph that you find offensive, but it's not sexually explicit. It doesn't arouse," Wright continued.
Let's Talk About It
However, before the library lost funding, a book titled "Let's Talk About It: The Teen's Guide to Sex, Relationships, and Being a Human" was offered in the teen section. It depicted sexual activity, explained how to use fingers and butt plugs, showed illustrations and explained how online pornography can be used to help discover aspects of sexuality. The book has since been moved to the adult section of the library.
After the meeting, 1819 News asked Wright if she believed the moving of the book because of parents coming forward was a positive thing. Although some books have been moved because the board determined they were inappropriate for younger teens, Wright said she doesn't think any of the books should've been moved.
"Personally, I don't think they should be moved," Wright told 1819 News. "Because there are thousands of books on the shelves in the teen section. Thousands. The thought that they would single in on one of those books is unrealistic to me."
When asked about the book discussing butt plugs and putting fingers up the anus, Wright said, "Well, I'm just not in favor of censorship. I'm in favor of parents making decisions about what their child should read."
Wright admitted there is no situation in which it would be okay for a child to see a man sitting on another man's face, as depicted in the book.
The APLS has opened a public comment period for a proposed code amendment addressing material containing gender ideology. Clean Up Alabama has created a letter form to submit to APLS in support of the amendment.
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