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When Alabama Republicans cut funding to a local library in a dispute over LGBTQ-themed books for children and teens, it took less than a week for a community fundraiser to more than cover the loss of funds.
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At a contentious board meeting on Monday, the Alabama Public Library Service (APLS) voted to pause $40,000 in funding to the Fairhope Public Library while the board reviews the practices of the library. The move came after the board heard complaints about books with LGBTQ+ themes and where they were placed on shelves, AL.com reports. The APLS recently introduced a new age-based three-tier system for shelving books, with sections for children, teens, and adults.
Conservative activist groups Clean Up Alabama and Moms for Liberty complained that the Fairhope Public Library failed to abide by the rules. Fairhope officials contend they had a recent letter from board member and chair of the state Republican Party, John Wahl, confirming compliance. Taking the side of the conservative groups, Wahl and the board voted to pause funding pending further review and investigation.
“Recent code changes made it clear that local libraries had to relocate inappropriate content from youth sections,” Wahl said in a statement emailed to AL.com. Our goal is not to punish anyone but to ensure that all libraries receiving state funding adhere to the established standards that protect our children.”
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When the vote came down last Monday night, local activists sprang into action. Read Freely Alabama, a group fighting book censorship, created a fundraiser to cover the loss in funding.
“Months of targeted attacks, stacking the APLS board, and conspiring with ALGOP chair John Wahl finally paid off for Moms for Liberty and Clean Up Alabama,” the fundraising page reads. “Under Chairman Wahl's leadership, state funding has been stripped from the Fairhope library for shelving age-appropriate sex education materials in the young adult section.”
In less than a week, the community used the site to raise over $43,000 and counting.
The Republican-dominated APLS board on Monday also fired APLS Director Nancy Pack, who had defended keeping books available to all readers. After years of disputes between Pack and the board, she submitted her letter of resignation effective in September. Upon hearing the news, Republican board member Amy Minton introduced a motion to terminate Pack’s employment immediately, the Alabama Reflector reports.
“This is not personal,” Minton said at the meeting. “I want to thank Dr. Pack for her service to the APLS organization. I appreciate that she recognizes the need for her resignation. However, I believe that APLS needs new leadership and direction.”
The board accepted the motion and voted to fire Minton. The board also denied her additional time to collect her belongings, telling her she had to collect and remove them immediately.
“After this thing at the board meeting today, and after all the things that they wanted to do, it just pointed out how much I do not want to work for this board and support their ideology of what public libraries in Alabama should be,” Pack said after the meeting, the Reflector reports.
The books challenged include Let’s Talk About It: The Teen’s Guide to Sex, Relationships, and Being a Human by Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan, Kingdom of Ash and Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas, Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo, and Boy Toy by Barry Lyga.
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