League of Women Voters hosts panel on Alabama library attacks for “Banned Books Week”

The League of Women Voters of Alabama on Monday brought in panelists from the Alabama Library Association, Ozark-Dale County Public Library and EveryLibrary to discuss a year of “attacks” on state libraries.

Including the panelists, 75 people joined the virtual panel Monday to hear from Jessica Hayes, advocacy coordinator for the Alabama Library Association; Ashley Stewart, campaign strategist for EveryLibrary; and Karen Speck, director of the Ozark-Dale County Public Library.

Stewart said that book challenges like those facing Alabama libraries are happening all over the country.

“Certain circles are sharing a playbook of how to go after libraries,” Stewart said.

Citizens all over the state have raised challenges at their libraries over books they claim are inappropriate for kids, sometimes going so far as to call the books pornography.

Hayes said her hometown of Prattville is the “ground zero” of the library debate in the state.

Individuals in Prattville initially raised concerns about LGBTQ+ books in the children and young adult sections of the library in early 2023. These individuals eventually formed Clean Up Prattville and then Clean Up Alabama and shifted their messaging to focus on sexually explicit content while still seeking to have non-sexual LGBTQ+ content moved to the adult section or removed altogether.

In an email that detailed minutes of an August 24, 2023 meeting of Clean Up Alabama, the group laid out its own playbook for the state, which Republican leaders have followed at the state level.

One of the legislative goals detailed by Clean Up Alabama in that email included crafting a bill to remove criminal exemptions for librarians who distribute materials “harmful to minors” to minors.

The LWV discussed the latest iteration of this bill, House Bill 4 pre-filed for the 2025 session, during its panel Monday.

HB4, sponsored by Rep. Arnold Mooney, R-Indian Springs and 49 other Republican members of the Alabama House of Representatives, would allow librarians to be charged with a misdemeanor if a patron believes a book to be inappropriate for minors and the librarian does not move it to the adult section or remove it from the library.

The panel also discussed the return of a bill by Sen. Chris Elliott, R-Josephine, that would allow two-thirds of a library board’s appointing authority to remove members at will. The bill died last year in the House after lawmakers amended the bill to require “cause” for removing a board member.

Speck told attendees about her library’s struggle with an attempt by Mayor Mark Blankenship to remove all LGBTQ+ books for minors from the library, and how the library navigated those times.

Although things are “quiet now,” Speck said the situation continues to cause stress for her and other employees.

“Half my staff members are suffering from migraines,” Speck said. “I’ve never had anxiety like this in my life.”

An attendee asked Speck whether she’d be able to continue on in the profession if the situation continues as it has. Speck didn’t answer, but Hayes highlighted that there are currently between 14 and 16 library director positions open in the state as a consequence of the controversy.

Hayes told about her “best friend,” a youth services librarian whose passion is libraries, who has left the public library space altogether due to what’s been going on.

The panel urged attendees to stay connected to public meetings of the library board and local governments to stay up to date with what is going on in their libraries and to speak to lawmakers to support their libraries.