FAIRHOPE — Approximately 75 people packed the Fairhope Unitarian Fellowship church Tuesday evening for a town hall hosted by Read Freely Alabama and the Alabama Library Association.
Discussion topics ranged from censorship to so-called "anti-library legislation." The town hall organizers said it would take an organized effort to protect libraries from "extremist rhetoric and disinformation."
The panelists included Elizabeth Williams, organizer of the Baldwin County Read Freely chapter; Angie Hayden, founding member of Read Freely Alabama; Elizabeth Denham, author and founder of Lotus Flower Media; Anne Johnson, chairman of the Fairhope Public Library Board of Trustees; and Craig Scott, director of the Gadsden Public Library and president of the Alabama Library Association (ALLA).
The moderator was Amber Frey of Read Freely Alabama, a group protesting the removal of sexually explicit children's books and LGBTQ+ material from public libraries.
Panelists said they have been fighting censorship for over a year after concerned parents and community members across the state came forward asking for sexually explicit books to be removed from the children and teen sections of libraries.
"So, we've sort of always had, or for many years, had displays in the teen and children's section for Pride Month," Johnson said. "You know, books about rainbows and colors. So, some of the parents objected to these displays."
Johnson admitted that many of the books in question by concerned parents contained LGBTQ content for teens, but she denied any had pornographic material.
Johnson said the library board had to do "a lot of soul searching" before complying with code changes implemented by the State Library Board earlier this year.
"We made some changes at that point in time," she told the crowd. "And then I met with the director and one-on-one with each board member to, again, walk through the policy changes word-for-word. We made more changes at that time."
"I think we were trying to kind of loosen the language a little bit so it wasn't so restrictive for our library," she continued. "I think we took a middle-of-the-road approach, ultimately. Not too restrictive language, not too wide open."
Parents now have to sign off on library cards for their children. They may choose all-access, teen selection-only, or children's selection-only. Johnson said 60% of children's library cards are for all-access.
"I think that reflects our community and Fairhope and the trust that parents have in their kids, but in the library as well," Johnson said.
Denham, who writes books herself, said she got involved four years ago when her gay son was assigned to read books that did not align with his political beliefs. She said she "made a spectacle" of herself to protect her son from assigned reading. The Spanish Fort High School principal addressed the situation, and the school complied with her request.
Still, Denham said people at church, teachers and students at school turned their backs on her son.
"Nobody should be okay with a 16-year-old boy walking down the hallways or having teachers turn their backs on them and having to go," she said. "He sat in that man's class who had this horrible book list every day because he said, 'I'm not going to let him take that diploma of distinction away from me.' You look at the rates of suicide and depression in LGBTQ youth, and there are upwards of 40% attempted suicide, suicidal ideation, depression, you know, all of the things that kids go through amplified in that community."
Denham said her fight was not as contentious then because Moms for Liberty, an organization dedicated to fighting for liberty and parental rights in education, had not become "quite so aggressive."
Although she fought to ensure her child would not be forced to read something that did not align with her political beliefs, Denham told the crowd she believes in letting children read things they don't know or disagree with.
"You've got to trust their intellect," she explained.
Williams also shared some of her experiences as a Fairhope resident. As someone with a librarian degree, she said she was curious when she heard there was pornographic material in the children's and teen sections of the Fairhope Public Library. She investigated herself and didn't find anything that concerned her.
Hayden, who has been at the forefront of the issue in Prattville, claimed those who want books removed have an agenda. She pointed out that her child, who grew up in the library, is gay. She believes those opposing certain books do not want children to be empathetic towards the LGBTQ community.
"They are trying to send a message, not only to my child and your child, but their peers," she said. "Because reading this book does not just benefit our queer children; It creates empathy in their peers and the rest of society for them, and these people cannot have that."
Hayden alleged that Prattville library staff became so afraid they had to have their husbands walk them out of the library at night. Hayden said library board members lost sleep and weight over the issue.
"We've pretty much lost our library to extremists in Prattville," she said. "We are now the plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit against the library board for restricting LGBTQ materials and books about racial injustice."
She said she wouldn't be surprised if the issue didn't reach the United States Supreme Court.
"It's been such a strange journey to see these extremists attack just incredibly good people, wonderful staff, wonderful board members because of their ideology," she continued. "And I hope we'll talk a little bit more about the connections to these people and Project 2025 because it really is all tied together."
Scott addressed the crowd via video, admitting a book had to be moved to the adult section from the teen collection at the Gadsden Public Library due to "very graphic" content. However, he maintained that the fight to remove graphic material is "nonsense." He said parents should trust those in charge.
"What's been going on lately for the past year and a half is something that's just a bunch of nonsense, really," he said. "The folks, the extreme folks, do not trust librarians. We have gone to school to learn how to purchase books, how to organize books, how to create programs, educational and entertaining programs for our communities."
Scott claimed that 95% of books challenged across the nation dealt with gender identity issues.
The town hall was the second in a series. Organizers encouraged participants to attend the November 21 State Library Board meeting in Montgomery and warned them to stay vigilant and watch for anti-library legislation in the upcoming legislative session.
"And these extremists, if we don't show up, we are handing everything over to them," Hayden added. "And the thing about extremists is that they show up, they are dedicated. And I think that where maybe the more reasonable majority has fallen short is that we are not as dedicated, we are not as loud, we are not as consistent, and that's where we need to be better."
"And I think we're afraid to be loud and that we think we are going to look irrational," she said.
"Some of us need to be irrational," Frey added.
"Well, I can promise you that if you're in the room with one of them, you will not look like the irrational one," Hayden replied.
As moderator Frey took questions from the crowd, she remarked, "We're fueled by love and rage. A lot of rage."
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email erica.thomas@1819news.com.
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