Librarians in Alabama have been under fire, and now Moms for Liberty of Madison County is calling on the Alabama Public Library Service to push terminations for librarians who oppose their agenda.
A letter from the local M4L chapter to APLS Chairman John Wahl and the board, obtained by APR, calls upon the board to take three specific actions:
- Ensure library systems comply with relevant federal executive orders
- Create a mechanism for parents to report noncompliance directly to APLS
- Create policy to hold noncompliant employees accountable
That third action is further detailed to request that the APLS develop a policy outlining how library boards are to terminate librarians who do not “comply” with the state administrative code.
The letter notes that the legislature has unsuccessfully considered bills that would “ensure accountability of librarians” by charging them with a misdemeanor if they failed to remove material that a citizen believed is “harmful to minors.”
“Moms for Liberty, Madison County calls upon the APLS board to write a policy that would allow local library boards to terminate library staff that knowingly and purposely violate state and federal laws/directives,” the letter states.
The letter also calls on the APLS board to write policy to “standardize board composition” across libraries. The Madison County chapter had been largely involved in changing the board composition of the Athens-Limestone Public Library board to include appointees from the Limestone County Commission and not just the Athens City Council.
The point about complying with relevant federal laws and executive orders includes the group citing “Our Skin: A First Conversation About Race” as an example of “continued efforts to push radical ideologies onto children.”
The other directive of the letter is to allow citizens to directly report perceived noncompliance with the APLS code by local libraries to the APLS. Moms for Liberty supporters have already brought concerns to the board about the Fairhope Public Library, leading the board to suspend Fairhope’s state funding, despite numerous libraries in the state shelving the same challenged books in sections for minors.
