APLS chair asks Fairhope Library to review 35 “inappropriate” books

Fairhope and state library officials met over a video call Wednesday to discuss the decision by the Alabama Public Library Service to cut off funding to the Fairhope Library due to “sexually explicit” or “inappropriate” books on the shelves.

Fairhope Mayor Sherry Sullivan gave an update Thursday on the meeting, which included Sullivan, APLS and AGLOP Chair John Wahl, City Attorney Marcus McDowell, and representatives of the Fairhope Public Library. 

Wahl has made it clear in the week since the APLS vote that there will be no exceptions made: if the Fairhope library wants state money, it will have to move the books it considers sexually explicit or inappropriate out of young adult and children’s sections.

Sullivan on Thursday said the funding is not the primary concern — the library receives approximately $40,000 annually in state funds but has a total annual budget of about $1 million per year. But also at risk is the library’s ability to participate in the joint services supported by the county and APLS funding.

“For us to maintain the programming we have with the county and the funding we get from APLS, we have to meet the APLS guidelines,” Sullivan said. “We want to maintain the relationship with the county system. It’s a cooperative effort with the county and it’s quite a bit of services we can offer to our citizens and throughout the county.”

Nobody has accused the library of containing “obscene” materials, but Wahl has criticized the library for having “sexually explicit” materials in sections for minors, as well as books “inappropriate for minors.” 

While the APLS code does not define “sexually explicit,” Sullivan said Thursday that Wahl considers the term to mean that a book contains sex acts or nudity and told John Sharp of AL.com that the “basic threshold” should include “sexual intercourse, masturbation or nudity.”

Wahl told APR earlier this week that “inappropriate for minors” could be considered “roughly” interchangeable with the state definition of “material harmful to minors,” which says books must be taken as a whole and that they must “appeal to the prurient interest of minors” to qualify as harmful. “Prurient interest” means basically means intended to arouse a “morbid and shameful interest in sex.”

The library board meets April 21 and will consider Wahl’s request to initiate a review of the books.

What books is Wahl asking the library to review?

A source familiar with the situation provided APR with a list of the 35 books they say Wahl asked city and library officials to review. APR could not independently verify the veracity of that list before publishing time or how the books were flagged.

However, Wahl has made it a point of emphasis that the library had been approached about these books and refused to review them, including some that have already gone through a full reconsideration process. The list is primarily comprised of books that have been challenged over the past two years, including at least 15 of which have faced appeals to the full board of trustees.

If the list of titles is correct, it includes six books that have either been moved to the adult section or removed from the library altogether. Five challenged books have been moved without action necessary from the board: Empire of Storms, Kingdom of Ash, Perfect, Last Night at the Telegraph Club, and Let’s Talk About It. Water for Elephants has been weeded from the collection due to the book’s physical condition.

At least one book on the list provided to APR does not include a single line or illustration that could be construed as sexual content. Yes! No! A First Conversation About Consent is a board book that discusses giving or withholding consent for another individual, especially an adult, to touch you. However, the book never describes or illustrates sexual touching. Critics of the book have argued that it “grooms” children by teaching them that they can “consent” to be touched by adults. The book teaches kids that it is OK to withhold consent for adults to touch them, even though adults like a family member might try to claim the authority to demand a hug or kiss, for example.

APR has not been able to review each of these books thoroughly yet, but there are other questionable inclusions on the list. For instance, It Feels Good to be Yourself is a board book about gender identity. Common Sense Media, an online service that reviews movies and books and flags content for parents, says the book is appropriate for children 4 and up. As far as sex and nudity, the only content listed is that a “background character wears a crop top showing midriff and belly button on one page.”

Sex is a Funny Word is currently shelved in the juvenile non-fiction as a sex education book for children. The book has come under fire from critics for its cartoon illustrations of genitals, breasts and even anuses. The APLS code specifically exempts anatomy from being considered in violation of the code, and this section discusses the proper terminology for the body parts and explains how they work, how to keep them clean and such. It also creates the vocabulary and knowledge necessary for a later section labeled “secret touching” that teaches children about how an adult may try to touch their “middle parts” and what to do. Another section describes masturbation in an educational tone; there is no illustration that depicts masturbation.

Parts and Hearts is another book that contains cartoon illustrations of nudity, although the illustrations are slight in detail. The book discusses gender identity and includes information on gender transitioning including surgery. Board member Amy Minton has called for such information to be purged from sections for minors because Alabama has made it illegal to provide such treatment for minors. That is not included in the code, however. 

Numerous books—Sold, Grown, Tricks, Boy Toy—all depict the sexual abuse or exploitation of children to varying extents. At face value, none of these books taken as a whole would appeal to the prurient interest of minors. However, they do contain descriptions of sexual intercourse/abuse and nudity. 

Here’s the complete list of books that were flagged by Wahl, according to a source. This list will be updated with any corrections if needed.

• Beyond Magenta
• Boy Toy
• Crank
• Damsel
• Doing It
• Identical
• Lighter Than My Shadow
• Shine
• Sold
• The Handmaid’s Tale
• The Hate U Give
• The Haters
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower
• Tricks
• Blue is the Warmest Color
• Empire of Storms
• Grown
• It Feels Good to be Yourself
• Kingdom of Ash
• Last Night at the Telegraph Club
• Let’s Talk About It
• Like a Love Story
• Loveless
• Me, Earl and the Dying Girl
• Monday’s Not Coming
• Parts and Hearts
• Perfect
• Ready Player One
• Sex is a Funny Word
• Speak
• The Black Flamingo
• The Kite Runner
• Wait What? A comic book guide to relationships, bodies and growing up
• Water for Elephants
• Yes! No! A First Conversation About Consent