Tag: LIBRARY CONTROVERSY

The Alabama Public Library Service Board voted to provide the state’s libraries with a definition of “sexually explicit,” continued to withhold funding for the Fairhope library and floated a near-total ban on the transgender-promoting books at Thursday’s meeting.  

A local parent in the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library system discovered a book targeted at juveniles, which teaches children to engage in social activism and that “[r]acial categories were invented to advantage white people and to justify slavery, colonialism, and genocide.

Alabama Public Library Service board chairman John Wahl announced on Monday the near completion of an effort to protect the state’s libraries from potential federal funding losses as President Donald Trump’s administration continues to target federal programs.

Fresh off his trip to the White House and visit with President Donald Trump, Pathway Church lead pastor Travis Johnson weighed in on the latest in Alabama's library controversy.

A Madison woman is claiming she was threatened with legal action by an Athens-Limestone County Library board member after sending excerpts from a book in the library aimed at minors with sexually explicit themes.

Advocates for removing sexually explicit material aimed at minors from Alabama libraries are growing more frustrated at the lack of legislative action.

The advocacy group, Clean Up Alabama, is calling on lawmakers to pass legislation that would remove the state’s existing provision exempting public and school libraries from obscenity laws.

More recently obtained audio of Alabama Public Library Service director Nancy Pack recorded her giving an apparent veiled encouragement to public library directors to file an ethics complaint against now-APLS board chairman John Wahl.

Alabama Republican Party chairman and recently elected Alabama Public Library Service chairman John Wahl has laid out his plans to strengthen the state’s libraries after over a year of contentious debate surrounding sexually explicit books.

The Alabama Public Library Service Board of Directors voted on Thursday to elect Alabama Republican Party chairman and APLS District 5 board member John Wahl to serve as the chairman, going against outgoing chairman Ron Snider’s recommendation.

Despite administrative rule changes in Alabama Libraries regulating the purchasing and placement of possibly sexually explicit material, Libraries are still in lawmakers’ crosshairs in the 2025 legislative session.

Governor Kay Ivey stands by her decision to enter the inflammatory fray of Alabama’s ongoing library debate, a move that led to a sweeping series of rule changes regulating how libraries can purchase and display sexually explicit or obscene material meant for minors.

The North Shelby Library director resigned from her position on Monday after over a year-long battle over sexually explicit and LGBTQ+ children’s books that has grabbed the attention of residents and lawmakers statewide.

The new Alabama Public Library Service (APLS) rule changes that came from Gov. Kay Ivey in response to citizens’ concerns over sexually explicit and obscene children’s books are officially part of Alabama’s administrative code as of Monday.

If the battles we are facing today aren’t enough to help people find their strength and overcome their weaknesses, where does that leave our children? What kind of society does that leave for them? 

From baby’s first wine cooler to an afterschool Bud Light for your middle schooler, this store made certain our youngest drinkers can find the right drink for them.

Parents and reform advocates are outraged that instead of taking steps to protect children from potentially harmful material, the state legislature instead prioritized a gambling bill that got lost in political gamesmanship.

A collection of groups and individuals have filed a lawsuit against the Prattville-Autauga Library Board over its policies for regulating and placing potentially obscene or sexually explicit children’s books.

After the House of Representatives passed legislation removing school and public library’s immunity from the state’s obscenity laws, advocates on both sides of the sexually explicit book debate are weighing in on the decision.  

State Sen. Chris Elliott (R-Josephine) recently pre-filed a bill that clarifies the right of municipal and county authorities to appoint and dismiss local library board members at their discretion.

A recent letter from Alabama Public Library Service director Nancy Pack announced that the APLS would discontinue its membership with the American Library Association and offered guidelines for libraries to address sexually explicit children's books.

Activists gathered at the North Shelby County Library on Thursday night to praise the library board members for keeping an LGBTQ display in the children’s section in June after backlash from residents who felt it was inappropriate for kids.

Alabama GOP chairman John Wahl recently responded to complaints over his involvement in a scheduled roundtable discussion over explicit library books.

Gov. Kay Ivey recently responded to Alabama Public Library Service director Nancy Pack’s defense of the state’s partnership with the American Library Association, expressing no abatement to her concerns and suggesting policy changes.

The Fairhope City Council heard from more concerned citizens Monday about inappropriate material being reported in the Fairhope Public Library.