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Just three days after the Alabama Public Library Service voted to cut funding to the Fairhope Public Library, donors have raised 80 percent of the state’s annual allocation for the library.
As of Sunday at 11:59 p.m., a fundraiser started by the Fairhope chapter of Read Freely Alabama had raised 77 percent of its $40,000 goal to account for the potential shortfall in state funding.
The APLS board voted last week to immediately suspend funding to the library after some individuals came forward to report that the young adult section still included books like “Sold,” a National Book Award finalist about a girl who is sold into sexual slavery in India.
Randal Wright, secretary of the Fairhope Public Library Board, confirmed to APR Sunday that the library had, at least, already gotten its first allotment of state funds earlier this year. She wasn’t sure if it had gotten its second allotment yet, and could not recall whether it is split between two, three or four payments. Director Rob Gourlay, who is responsible for directly overseeing those funds, is out on paternity leave.
Regardless, at least $10,000 of the annual allocation has already come in, so the $30,997 raised so far would be enough to cover the funding shortfall—at least for this year.
“It’s remarkable,” Wright said. “We knew we had a lot of support, but we never expected it otherwise to be like this: so quickly and so much … We are thrilled that our community is that supportive.”
At the latest check, the fundraiser had 404 backers—contributing about $76.73 per donor—with the numbers growing steadily. Donations range everywhere from $5 to $500, some of them with messages attached.
“I grew up going to the Fairhope Public Library … with my mom in the 80s and 90s,” wrote one donor. “It was always such a welcoming, calm and inclusive place for open minded learning. I hope it can continue doing so despite the short sighted thought of limiting groups like Moms (for Liberty).”
One donor described being “lured” into human trafficking and wishing she had access to books like “Sold” as a teen.
“… at least then I would have know what was happening to me …” the donor said. “These bans aren’t ‘protecting’ children form anything but reality.”
Despite the funds, Wright said questions still loom about what other consequences there might be from the APLS.
“It impacts so much more than just the money that comes from the state; that’s the thing we have to think about,” Wright said.
Board chair Anne Johnson is out of town and the board is not scheduled to meet until April 21. On the agenda, Wright said, is another discussion about “Grown,” one of the other books that had been used as an example of “sexually explicit” materials on the shelves of the library’s young adult section.
“Nobody has defined that for us in the code,” Wright said. “Those two terms (obscene and sexually explicit) are subjective. I’ve read ‘Grown’ and, I’ll be honest, I’m not sure that I found anything to be sexually explicit. It is a difficult subject, but I don’t think it’s an inappropriate subject for teens.”
“Grown” details a teen girl groomed by a music producer into a sexually abusive situation.
APLS Board Member Amy Minton, who made the motion to cut funding to the Fairhope Library, sent APR an email Saturday claiming that “the definition of ‘Sexually explicit’ is clearly listed in Alabama State Code” followed by a link to the new APLS administrative code, which does not define the term “sexually explicit.”
Minton also sent a link to Section 13A-12-190 of Alabama’s criminal code with the instruction to “Please see definitions of Sexually Explicit in Alabama State Code attached below.” The code section defines several terms and phrases, but does not define “sexually explicit.” It does define “obscene.”
Minton also included a screenshot of a the Ozark-Dale County Public Library policy that APLS forwarded to all libraries as an example to go by. That policy does include a definition for “sexually explicit,” which the policy describes as a combination of a Department of Justice definition and the definition of “explicit content” in Alabama Code 13A-12-200.1″
“Please also note that this was mailed out to EVERY LIBRARY from APLS so there is no reason someone should be confused on ‘what is sexually explicit,'” Minton said in the email.
The sample policy’s combined definition includes the depiction of sexual intercourse or excitement. There is a second part of that definition, however: “… and predominantly appeals to the prurient interest of minors …” The U.S. Supreme Court has defined “prurient interest to mean “that which appeals to a shameful or morbid interest” in sex.
That qualifier could muddy the water on what materials are unsuitable for teen shelves. The state aid requirements approved by the APLS board do not themselves define the term “sexually explicit,” regardless of what definitions appear elsewhere.
The Fairhope City Council, which recently reappointed three members of the library board despite grievances from book challengers, will meet tonight and the board anticipates those individuals to call on the council once again to cut off funding for the library.
