A Baldwin County library will not receive state funding after months of turmoil involving “sexually explicit” and “inappropriate” content in books for teenagers.
In a meeting fraught with crosstalk and tension, the Alabama Public Library Service board voted to withhold state funding to the Fairhope Public Library. The library kept some flagged books, including “The Handmaid’s Tale,” in its teen section, instead of moving them to the adult’s section.
“You’re going to be known as the censor for Alabama,” board member Ron Snider told John Wahl, who voted to withhold funding.
At the board meeting, Wahl, who is also the president of the Alabama GOP, read aloud some passages from books he found questionable. Most of the passages involved curse words and instances of consensual and non-consensual sex.
“The amount of vulgarity concerns me,” Wahl said. “This is not content that I can recommend to young people.”
At issue is about $22,000 in state funding. Since the showdown began, the library has raised more than $100,000 in community donations.
Fairhope librarians must move the following “sexually explicit” books to the adult section to receive state funding:
- Beyond Magenta by Susan Kuklin
- Crank by Ellen Hopkins
- Doing It by Hannah Witton
- Identical by Ellen Hopkins
- Lighter Than My Shadow by Katie Green
- Shine by Lauren Myracle
- Sold by Patricia McCormick
- The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
- The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
- The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Most of these books have appeared on banned book lists for years, including lists created by conservative groups like Clean Up Alabama and Moms for Liberty.
Wahl asked several times why the board chose to keep these books on the teen shelves.
Fairhope Library board chair Randal Wright and library director Robert Gourlay said the board had already read the books and decided they were suitable for the teen section. Moving the books would equate to censorship, Wright said.
“In the definition that we were given, the word ‘prurient’ was there,” Wright said. “I don’t think any of this is sexually explicit in the sense that it arouses someone. It’s just making some statements and talking about it as a whole. These books did not have a reason that we felt they should be moved.”
Wright explained that parents can select a library card that prevents children under 13 from accessing books in the teen section. The teen section is also located on a different level from the children’s section.
Snider said he believed the overall content of the books are addressed to the correct audience. He said to Wahl that if he believed that teenagers hadn’t already heard these words, “you’re not in the reality that I’ve been.”
Wahl said some of the books have literary value, but he would not want a child to read them before the content was explained by a parent.
“Parents make those decisions,” Wright said. “If you as a parent don’t like this book, then your child doesn’t read it. But you can’t keep that book away from my child. It’s not your job to make that decision.”
This is the first time that the state library board denied funding based on book placement. In 2024, the board decided to update the state code mandating libraries move books that were “inappropriate” for children to the adult section.
The board also discussed a new code change that expands on what is inappropriate. This will include any books that feature positive portrayals of transgender characters. Library director Kelyn Ralya estimated the change to take effect on Feb. 14.
No new decisions were made about the new chief of staff position because an approval process must go through the Alabama State Board of Personnel.
The next APLS meeting is March 26.
