John Wahl, chair of the Alabama Public Library Service, is urging libraries to immediately review their collections and ensure that no federal funding is being used toward the “promotion of gender ideology.”
“As the Chairman of the Alabama Public Library Service (APLS), it is my duty to ensure that our state’s libraries remain compliant with all federal regulations to maintain access to critical grant funding,” Wahl wrote in an undated email obtained by APR. “In light of this executive order, all Alabama public libraries must take immediate steps to review their collections, programming, and policies to ensure that no federal grant funds are used to promote gender ideology in any form. Failure to comply with these new federal guidelines will result in the loss of grant eligibility, which could significantly impact library funding and operations. To avoid any disruptions of grants, I strongly urge all library directors to conduct a thorough review of their library’s policies, collections, and programming to ensure full compliance with this executive order.”
A recent Moms for Liberty email included the attachment among several others in an email pushing for the exclusion of transgender materials in libraries. Two library directors in the state told APR they have not yet received the letter, but have become aware of it.
“The Alabama Public Library Service is committed to keeping parental rights at the forefront in Alabama. They have taken a bold stance, and I want to make sure you all know what is expected of our libraries,” said Rebecca Watson, leader of Baldwin County Moms for Liberty, in the email. “All libraries have been notified by the APLS and are to follow these guidelines, or they will lose funding.”
The email then provides a numbered list under the header “from the APLS,” although the numbered items are merely links to federal and state laws, examples of book reviews and links to transgender titles in the Baldwin and Jefferson County catalogs.
The email also includes a document that APLS board member Amy Minton introduced as a “working document” last week that would deem inappropriate any material that ” encourages, promotes or contains positive portrayals of transgender procedures, gender ideology, or the concept of more than two genders.”
Under the APLS code, all books deemed inappropriate must be in the adult department only, and books aimed at minors that positively portray transgender characters would be prohibited from being added to collections if the board approves that definition.
The Moms for Liberty email includes a link to “873 examples of transgender in Jefferson County library online system,” although the results seem to vary widely in relation to the topic, with books on domestic violence, teen suicide and a book about women who changed the sports world.
