The director of the Mobile Public Library addressed the Mobile City Council Committee of the Whole on Tuesday, explaining the library's purpose and mission, which she said is to inform, entertain and inspire.
The meeting followed complaints from concerned citizens who have presented explicit, sexual material they claimed to find in the children and teen sections of the library. The citizens addressed the city council because the library receives nearly $8.2 million of its annual $10.5 million non-grant funding from the City of Mobile.
Mobile County contributes more than $1.7 million yearly, while the state contributes almost $500,000.
Still, Mobile City Councilman William Carroll defended the library when constituents came forward, saying it was a county entity, not a city library.
"Simply remembering that there are more than one city that the Mobile Public Library serves throughout this county," Carroll said. "Even though it says, 'Mobile Public Library,' it's not Mobile 'City' Library. The library is a county agency beyond us. And if you remember, even back when we were trying to give raises and all those things, there was a big conversation as to why does the city have to fund a county entity."
"So, in essence, in asking this city to direct something that's more county, I think would be inappropriate at this time where we're not a county," he continued. "We were not a county municipality here. We are a city municipality."
"I stand behind what you guys are trying to do and what you're doing," Carroll added.
Library director Margie Calhoun said the library is at risk of losing state funding due to policy requirements implemented this year by the Alabama Public Library Service (APLS). Those policies aim to avoid placing sexually explicit books in the children's section.
"They want us to create policies, governance, selection, criteria for minors and how they are safeguarded from sexually explicit or other material deemed inappropriate for children and youth," Calhoun said.
The library continues working on policy changes. They are developing a new library card for minors that requires a parent at check-out. Calhoun said the library system still must consider other guidelines.
"We didn't immediately jump and revise our policy," she explained. "We're trying to kind of wait and see, hold it in pattern and see what's going to happen."
"There's a pending lawsuit with Autauga County," she continued. "We need to see what's going to happen with that lawsuit. And there is a meeting of public library directors this month and once we meet, we hope we gain some insight from each other on how to handle things."
While she intends to comply, Calhoun said the policies can harm libraries.
The Mobile Public Library is part of the American Library Association (ALA), a non-profit that promotes diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and has publicly supported many of the challenged sexually inappropriate materials for minors. Calhoun said that despite the APLS separating from the ALA, the Mobile Public Library system is a part of the ALA because of its resources.
"We are a member," she said. "Our board approved our membership this year. We've always been a member. It is the largest national trade association for libraries."
Calhoun said the library applies for grants and takes advantage of professional development through the ALA. She said many library leaders benefited from the ALA conference held this summer in San Diego.
Councilman Joel Daves, who recently chastised citizens who raised concerns, said he regrets that Calhoun is dealing with state policy demands.
"I'm constantly amazed that the folks up in Montgomery want to tell us out in the hinterlands exactly how to run our business," he said. "When really, our business is best run by people who are who are."
He said what is considered sexually explicit or inappropriate for children is subjective, making the topic challenging to navigate. Daves said the Mobile City Council should not impose additional burdens on the Mobile Public Library.
Carroll agreed, "I do believe in you doing that on your own and that this council should not be directing the Mobile Public Library to make whatever concessions or changes that need to be made," he told Calhoun.
The next Mobile Public Library Board meeting will be on October 22.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email erica.thomas@1819news.com.
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