Groups opposed to new Alabama library rules want legislators to intervene

A small child pulling children's books off a bookshelf. (Getty Images)

Read Freely Alabama and the Alabama Library Association (ALLA) asked legislators last week to prevent the Alabama Public Library Service (APLS) from implementing administrative code changes it approved last month .

Both groups sent nearly identical memos to the state’s Legislative Council on Friday, arguing that the APLS did not adhere to a process necessary to modify the rules.

“The stakeholders in the industry had no chance to review the new language, or ask questions and seek clarification before it was passed on May 16,” Read Freely’s memo states. “After the changed proposal was released, it appears the new language has created contradictory rules between itself and the original proposed language.”

Jessica Hayes, advocacy coordinator for the ALA, said Gov. Kay Ivey recommended that libraries only have a policy in place for segregating library materials based on their appropriateness.

“Now, you can’t even purchase ‘inappropriate’ material for minors, and it is reaching into the adult section by restricting their purchase, even for the adult section,” she said.

A message was left with APLS seeking comment.

The amended administrative code requires state libraries to adopt a selection criteria to ensure materials purchased for the collection “are safeguarded from sexually explicit material deemed inappropriate for children or youth.”

Policies must also exist that lay out how books will be organized in the library as well as provide advanced approval for materials advertised to children. Other policies prohibit staff from purchasing materials. Failure to adopt the policies could put a library’s state funding in jeopardy.

Read Freely has opposed such policies on grounds they are overly broad and vague and violate constitutional protections for free speech. The group has filed a federal lawsuit challenging the policies the Prattville library adopted, alleging they violate the First Amendment.

They also argue the policies are discriminatory because they prohibit books concerning sexual orientation and gender identity, which targets the LGBTQ+ community.

Read Freely said APLS did not provide adequate time for the public to review additional changes that went beyond the changes to the administrative code proposed by Gov. Kay Ivey in 2023.

The changes that members of the APLS Board adopted went beyond the scope of the initial proposed changes, and those additional changes should have restarted the process, which included more time for review and comment, according to Read Freely and the ALA.

The note also argued that APLS failed to include additional comments written to the Board .

The Alabama Library Association’s memo said that almost 6,500 written comments were submitted by the public to the proposed changes, but that APLS disregarded another 2,000 written comments in a report that analyzed the comments to the administrative code changes.

“The Executive Council requests to know where those written comments are and why they weren’t included in the content analysis,” the Alabama Library Association’s memo states.

Legislators

The memos were addressed to the Legislative Council, a body composed of some of the most senior Senators and House members of the Legislature. Read Freely and the Alabama Library Association believe the council has the authority to overturn the vote made by board members of APLS.

Members of the council who spoke with the Reflector said they could not comment on the memo specifically, though attitudes about the level of access to books fell down party lines.

“Why can one parent, or one group of people cut off other people’s opportunities to learn?” said Rep. Mary Moore, D-Birmingham. “I don’t understand that process, ‘because I don’t like it, then nobody else should have the opportunity, even if they want to learn about it.‘”

Rep. Danny Garrett, R-Trussville, the chair of the House Ways and Means Education Committee, called the policy “common sense.”

“We have age restrictions for children when it comes to a number of things: alcohol, driving,” he said. “There are certain things that are age appropriate. It has been a long standing practice that children do not have access to certain materials.”

Garrett supported Ivey’s recommended changes, going as far as to make library funding contingent on agreeing with the governor’s proposals.

“The budget language that was passed did not impact local library funding so long as they complied with those proposed regulations that the governor offered,” Garrett said.

Authority

Read Freely and ALLA argued APLS did not have authority to implement the rule.

“APLS has not given at least 35 days notice of intended action during which interested persons may present their views, per AL Code 41-22-5(a)(1),” both memos said. “The library agency gave an initial notice in the January 2024 Legislative Services Filing, but then the APLS substantially changed the language from what was provided in the notice and did not provide new notice with new opportunity for public comment.”

The organizations also argue the rule changes should be blocked on free speech grounds, saying the wording of the proposed changes is vague.

ALLA offered its own proposed rule changes, placing a greater responsibility on parents to supervise their children. The APLS did not adopt them. The memos argue that the ALA’s proposed changes are less restrictive and just as adequate to protect the public.

Read Freely and the ALLA say the administrative changes impose additional salary expenses for libraries and that library boards will need additional funding from counties and cities to begin implementing the APLS changes within their facilities.

Hayes said the additional funding is required to pay the salaries for staff to begin taking inventory of the circulation and begin reshelving books in different locations throughout the different libraries in the state.

ALLA’s memo estimates the additional expenses will be anywhere from $4,000-$6,000 per employee each month.

“At the Prattville Library, it would require additional walls and shelving to be added, and that would be extra expenses in that facility to make sure there is sufficient spacing and barriers to the ‘inappropriate’ materials in the adult section,” Hayes said.

The APLS changes will also require information technology upgrades.

“Several libraries will need to purchase new library systems to allow for tiered library cards,” the memos state. “This software can cost $15,000+ and will require devoted training and attention to implement.”

Both groups urge the Legislative Council to work with the Legislative Services Agency to disapprove the changes made to the APLS administrative code.

In May, a subcommittee voted to adopt changes to the administrative code that the full board later adopted . The new rules stated that to receive funding, local libraries must adopt a materials selection criterion that addresses how minors “are safeguarded from sexually explicit material deemed inappropriate for children or youth.”

Policies must be adopted for deciding how books will be organized within the library or be relocated if they contain sexually explicit materials or are inappropriate for children. There must be policies in place for obtaining advance approval for placing obscene and inappropriate materials on display targeted to children and must adopt guidelines to ensure that library materials within the children section are not obscene, sexually explicit or are inappropriate.

Hayes said that libraries coordinate with publishers to determine the age group most appropriate for specific books. Librarians will also read reviews and solicit opinions from sites such as GoodReads to determine the areas where books should be shelved, whether that be in the children, young adult or adult sections.

Libraries must also adopt policies that prevent staff from purchasing such materials for the collection, and state that minors must have parental approval before borrowing materials designated for the adult section.

APLS is responsible for distributing funds to the local libraries. Last fall, Ivey sent a letter to APLS Director Nancy Pack requesting that APLS adopt policies to require local libraries to set rules to better allow parents to supervise their children. Ivey also wanted any funds given to the American Library Association to be subject to approval by the “relevant governing authority in an open, public meeting.”

Ivey did not specify in her letter the specific authority for obtaining approval.

The battle over books erupted at the Autauga-Prattville Public Library last year after a parent complained that a book contained inclusive pronouns. A group of parents formed Clean Up Alabama and claimed to have found sexually explicit books in the children’s section of the library.

Among the list of books found on Clean Up Alabama’s website include “Being You: A first conversation about gender,” which GoodReads classified as a picture book for children containing LGBTQ+ themes.

Clean Up Alabama described the book as one that contains “alternate gender ideologies; and controversial cultural commentary.”

Read Freely Alabama formed in opposition to Clean Up Alabama. The group said Clean Up Alabama’s proposals amount to censorship and violate free speech rights. Members of the group also accused Clean Up Alabama of targeting books with LGBTQ+ characters or themes.

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