Latest news with #ReadFreelyAlabama
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Fairhope Public Library supporters raise money to replace funds state plans to withhold
A row of library books. Supporters of the Fairhope Public Library raised almost $40,000 to offset the funding that APLS has withheld. (Getty) A nonprofit says it has raised enough money for Fairhope Public Library to cover state funds that the Alabama Public Library Service Board cut off last week. Read Freely Alabama, a grassroots free speech advocacy organization that has fought restrictions on library content, said it had collected almost $39,000 from about 550 donors through Tuesday morning. Read Freely is organizing the campaign with EveryLibrary, an Illinois-based organization that promotes library funding and fights restrictions. 'We were trying to figure out what was the amount that they were pausing,' said Cheryl Corvo, a member of Read Freely Alabama and Fairhope resident. 'Then, we found out it was $42,000 that they were pausing, and how it would affect our library.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The Fairhope Public Library said it will have access to funding without interference from the state or any outside groups. 'We had a meeting with EveryLibrary, which is the group that has control of this particular fundraiser, and they take 10% and 90% of it comes to us,' said Randal Wright, a board member of the Fairhope Public Library. The amount was not enough to severely debilitate the library's operations, Corvo said. But it is enough to affect 'some very vital resources that the library provided.' Corvo said the campaign should also make APLS aware of the magnitude of local support for the library. Wright said that if the state continues to withhold money, the funds will go toward computers, books for the collection and paying for guest speakers. If APLS releases the funding, the money can be returned to donors if they choose. Otherwise, the library may keep the money raised for other uses. 'If the money is extra money, if we continue to be funded, then the money will go towards the federal government grants that we were supposed to get that were put on hold and we don't think we are going to get them,' Wright said. It appears the largest donation was from a couple who offered $1,000. According to its campaign website, fundraising began Thursday evening, several hours after APLS voted almost unanimously to withhold state aid after parents complained to the board that there were inappropriate books in the teen section of the Fairhope Public Library. Fairhope library officials said last week they had removed some books from the section, following an APLS-approved process, but determined that the remaining ones — which the parents complained about — were appropriate for their age level. The APLS board also voted on Thursday to terminate former director Nancy Pack after Chair John Wahl, who also serves as chair of the Alabama Republican Party, announced that Pack submitted her resignation effective in September. 'My commitment the whole time has been to work with the leadership of Fairhope, and get their state funding restored as soon as possible,' Wahl said. 'APLS priority has always been supporting our libraries but also making sure they put common sense policies in place to protect our children from potentially inappropriate materials.' Wahl said he wants parents around the state to feel they can alert APLS to material they consider inappropriate in a library. Fairhope Mayor Sherry Sullivan told members of the public during a city council meeting Monday that she had spoken with Wahl about the APLS decision. 'The funding was not cut, it is only paused,' Sullivan said at the meeting. 'When they met, the Fairhope Public Library was not on their agenda, but the (Clean Up Alabama Fairhope chapter) president spoke under public participation, a resident of Fairhope spoke, and brought to light some issues they felt the library was facing in how they categorized books.' Sullivan said that the library had already received two quarterly payments from APLS, but the third disbursement was halted until the matter regarding the situation with the library materials could be resolved. Sullivan said that some of the conflicts dealt with the definition of minors, which applies to anyone younger than 18 years old, including teens, which is the section of the library that generated much of the controversy. She added she and Wahl promised to keep open lines of communication, and that APLS and the Fairhope Public Library board will work together to resolve the issue. The two parties plan to meet Wednesday to discuss the changes to the APLS administrative code. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
The Guardian
24-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Alabama board defunds local library in first action under new book ban law
The public library in Fairhope, Alabama – a picturesque city on the shores of Mobile Bay – has found itself in the crosshairs of battles over library content. The Alabama public library service board of trustees recently voted to withhold state funding from the Fairhope public library after complaints from conservative parents about books in the teen section. In the same meeting, the board voted to immediately dismiss the executive director of the state library agency, who had been planning to resign. Board chairperson John Wahl, who is also the chair of the Alabama Republican party, said board members believe the Fairhope library is in violation of state policies to protect children from inappropriate materials. The books that have been cited by the upset parents include Sold, a National Book Award finalist about a girl who is sold into sexual slavery in India. The actions come amid a broader national culture war over library content and programs and a surging number of challenges to books on library shelves. The Fairhope library's defunding is the first measure taken under a new Alabama law and 2024 administrative code changes that say to receive state funding, local libraries must have policies to safeguard youth from 'sexually explicit or other material deemed inappropriate for children or youth'. The American Library Association's list of the most-challenged books of 2023 included many with LGBTQ+ or sexual content. 'I think that the GOP chair on the state library board is forcing the removal of books just because of anti-library extremists. I think that's ignoring the voices of Fairhope taxpayers and library users,' said Amber Frey of Read Freely Alabama, an organization that has opposed the restrictions. Wahl said his board isn't trying to ban the books. But he maintained the state code requires 'the actual relocation of these books out of youth sections'. 'We are unapologetic about standing up for Alabama families and putting them in control, even if that means temporarily defunding local libraries until they can be compliant,' Wahl said. He said parents objecting to the books read excerpts during the meeting to demonstrate why they believe the books do not belong in the teen section. Clean Up Alabama, a group that along with Moms for Liberty had sought restrictions, praised the decision. 'We saw the board step up in the fight to protect our children,' the group said in a statement. The secretary of the board of the Fairhope public library said they were shocked by the action. 'We're devastated and really stunned by this. We had no warning that this was going to happen,' Randal Wright said. Several years ago, the library received complaints against 35 books and went through a review process, Wright said. The director declined to move them after determining they were appropriate for teens. Wright said they recently received a request to revisit that decision because of the new state policies. She said the board declined to move them. Sign up to Headlines US Get the most important US headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning after newsletter promotion 'We had looked at those books, and we stuck by that decision,' Wright said. Wright said she believes the challenges were filed by a small number of people. The overall community is supportive of its library, she said. Read Freely Alabama has started a fundraiser for the Fairhope library to try to replace the $42,000 in state funding. The group had raised $8,000 by Friday afternoon. The state board on Thursday also dismissed Nancy Pack, who has led the library service since 2014. Pack had planned on resigning at the end of September. Wahl said there had been friction between Pack and some board members who believed she was hostile to the policies they were trying to implement. Pack has spent more than 30 years as a librarian and has been honored as a distinguished alumni of the University of Tennessee's school of information sciences. 'Libraries have never been political,' Pack said, adding that the attacks on librarians and libraries have been distressing. 'We have seen more librarians retire rather than go through what we're having to go through at this time.'
