A woman who has made the news multiple times for challenging library books in Alabama and a transgender librarian in Missouri is running for the Madison City Council.
Rachel Homolak most recently made the news for tangling with a member of the Athens-Limestone Public Library Board in March, sending member Vicki Hereford an email including images from a youth sex education book “Let’s Talk About It” (which is not stocked at the Athens library).
“The disgusting pornographic material that you chose to send to me twice via email – UNSOLICITED – is filth,” Hereford responded. “Because you choose to send this for whatever reason – shock value, perhaps – you are distributing the very material that you say you fight against. I will not meet with you. Do not contact me via email, phone call or text, or in person again. Any communication from you will be considered harassment and I will be forced to involve the authorities.”
Library advocates have pegged Homolak as one of the most aggressive figures pushing for the removal of certain books in the North Alabama region, with videos showing that she has approached others insistently at council and commission meetings with similar materials.
Homolak has begun distributing campaign materials announcing her candidacy for District 4 of the Madison City Council, which is currently held by two-term incumbent Greg Shaw.
Before relocating to Madison, Homolak stirred up controversy in Missouri with a campaign against a transgender librarian in St. Charles. Homolak spent months calling Danny Roberson a “pervert” and implying that Roberson posed a danger to children through constant social media criticism and in-person comments at public meetings.
Robertson has sued Homolak for defamation over her campaign, a suit that is still underway.
In Madison, Homolak has called for the council to withhold library funding if the library did not remove the materials she and others deem inappropriate for minors. The council unanimously rejected the idea of withholding funds.
Homolak recently spoke before the council on a non-library issue, praising the Madison Utilities board decision to remove fluoride from the water supply.
“Not necessarily because I believe that fluoride in the water is harmful or not, but because it gives the citizens of Madison City the choice to choose what they would like to put in their bodies and their children’s bodies,” Homolak said.
