Alabamians have the opportunity to weigh in on state policy that would restrict the circulation of certain books to minors in public libraries. The Alabama Public Library Service (APLS), the state agency that oversees public libraries, is holding a public hearing on Tuesday, April 30 to discuss the proposal.
The suggested changes to the Alabama Library Code would require libraries to place any books deemed “inappropriate” for children in a section of the library that would be inaccessible to anyone under the age of 18. It also states that denial of library services due to someone’s age would not be considered discriminatory. The entire proposal can be read here.
This follows a series of challenges to Alabama public libraries regarding books about LGBTQ+ identities, sex education and historical racism. As this conflict started to expand across municipalities, the state started pressuring libraries through changes in policy, including the push for Alabama to end ties with the American Library Association (ALA), in which the APLS officially voted to not renew its membership with the organization back in January.
Angie Hayden is the spokesperson for the library advocacy group Read Freely Alabama. She said the organization is trying to get as many people as possible to speak out about this policy.
“There's a period of time where people can voice their opinion. Then there's a hearing, and then those code changes will either be accepted [or] rejected. There's also possibility that that could be amended, which would start the process all over again,” said Hayden. “Read Freely is asking for everyone who cares about the freedom to read, constitutional librarianship [and] representation to write their letters to the APLS board.”
These public comments must be delivered directly to the APLS by mail or in person no later than 4:30 p.m. on April 29, according to the proposal and Code of AL 41-22-5. Hayden says Read Freely is hosting multiple letter-writing workshops across the state and online.
“They are actually going to be looking at these letters [and] the numbers of people who speak up on either side, and they will move accordingly,” said Hayden. “Unfortunately, there's not a web submission option. It has to be a letter. And so, our focus right now is facilitating that for people. We are even setting up a process by which you can even email it to us, and we'll mail it in for you. We want to make this as easy as possible for people.”
Written comments should be mailed or hand-delivered to:
Vanessa Carr
Executive Secretary
Alabama Public Library Service
6030 Monticello Drive
Montgomery, AL 36117
Hayden, whose oldest daughter is a member of the LGBTQ+ community, says that groups like Clean Up Alabama are a vocal minority of Alabama’s constituents. She says that these efforts do little to protect children and often take opportunities away from children like her own.
“These books are representative of marginalized people. When you start moving toward the erasure of books that represent different types of people, those books are really a proxy for human beings,” said Hayden, who added that she believes this to be a non-partisan issue, but rather one regarding constitutional liberties.
A public hearing will be held on Tuesday, April 30 at the Alabama Public Library Service in Montgomery. Requests to make oral comments should be sent to vcarr@apls.state.al.us by 4:30 p.m. on Monday, April 29.
The order of oral comments will be established based on the dates that the requests are received. Oral comments at the hearing will be limited to three minutes.
