Alabama board overseeing local libraries further defines term ‘sexually explicit'

Yahoo

09-05-2025

Gadsden Public Library Director Craig Scott speaks to the APLS Board during the Thursday, May 8, 2025 meeting. (Ralph Chapoco/Alabama Reflector)
The Alabama Public Library Service board Thursday adopted a definition of the term 'sexually explicit' after advocates and local library officials throughout the state said that the term — the center of controversies over book content around the state — was vague and hard to comply with.
The new definition is taken from the state's criminal code defining adult bookstores and adult movie houses. It includes material containing sexual intercourse between people of the same gender or opposite gender, sexual excitement and nudity.
'I think that is an easy thing for us to figure out,' said APLS Chair John Wahl, who introduced the motion on Thursday.
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The move follows the board's move in May of last year requiring libraries to restrict library materials from the minors or risk forfeiting state funding.
To qualify for state aid, libraries must adopt policies for selecting library materials that prohibit minors from having materials that are sexually explicit or inappropriate for children, specify the physical location of books and materials deemed sexually explicit or inappropriate materials for children, and obtain advance approval for materials that are marketed or promoted to children.
Libraries must also establish policies that 'approve written guidelines that ensure library sections designated for minors under the age of 18 remain free of material containing obscenity, sexually explicit, or other material deemed inappropriate for children or youth,'
Wahls' motion comes amid continued unrest at the state board that oversees local library funding. In March, members of the APLS voted to suspend funding to the Fairhope Public Library after several patrons complained that books that allegedly violated the APLS administrative code have yet to be moved to the adult section.
In that same meeting, because of another motion from Minton, APLS terminated Nancy Pack, the former director who led the agency since 2012.
The Fairhope Library has yet to have its funding restored. Supporters have started a fundraiser to help offset some of the funding that could be lost by the library.
Wahl said he had 'cordial communication' with Fairhope Public Library Director Robert Gourlay and chair of the Fairhope Public Library, Randal Wright.
'They are still in their review process,' he said. 'The APLS board is waiting until they finish their review process.'
Both Gourlay and Wright attended the meeting to address the APLS board during the public comment period.
'We have gotten a lot of reconsideration forms submitted since the beginning of 2023, and we have about 20,000 plus cardholders in Fairhope. Six or seven individuals are responsible for those requests for reconsideration,' Gourlay said.
He said staff have taken the requests seriously and have moved six books from the juvenile and teen section to the adult section.
Wright said that the Fairhope Public Library is not attempting to defy the updated APLS administrative code and recommended that the state agency establish a procedure for libraries to follow who may not be complying and give libraries an opportunity to respond before threatening funding.
'I have witnessed the standards of the majority of the citizens of Fairhope who have spoken out in support of our library,' Wright said. 'And I believe we are adhering to the APLS guidelines while also listening to the community standards of Fairhope.'
Fights over book content began erupting in 2023 when a parent complained that the Autauga-Prattville Public Library had a book with inclusive pronouns.
The issue went all the way up to Gov. Kay Ivey, who pushed the board to adopt administrative code changes. Critics said the campaign was about removing books with LGBTQ characters.
The fight continued at Thursday's meeting.
'Let me be blunt,' said Craig Scott, director of the Gadsden Public Library. 'Libraries are not political playgrounds. They are not here to serve an agenda. They are here to serve people, all people. And yes, sometimes providing materials that have been challenged, discomfort, or even provoke thought.'
Wahl said he found Scott's comments offensive.
'I personally, went to the state Legislature, and found guaranteed funding, so that local libraries would not have to risk losing federal grants,' Wahl said. 'There was not a single thank you there. To say that this board does not stand up for local libraries, and does not fight for them, is offensive.'
Board member Amy Minton, who moved to revoke Fairhope's funding last month, put forward a draft of a motion for the APLS Board to consider at the next meeting that invoked Alabama's 'What is a Woman Act' and the executive order from President Donald Trump that affirmed only two genders.
'In alignment with these clear positions of both state and federal government, it is the opinion of the APLS Board that any library material that encourages, promotes or contains positive portrayals of transgender procedures, gender ideology, or the concept of more than two genders shall be deemed inappropriate for children and youth under APLS Code,' Minton's proposed motion states.
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