As the Alabama Public Library Service weighs today whether to permanently withhold state funding to the Fairhope Public Library, an Alabama woman is taking matters into her own hands.
When Karie Fugett came across a 1940 Ford pickup truck, she saw an opportunity to transform it into a roving banned book store to bring awareness to censorship battles across the state.
“I was originally thinking of opening a regular bookstore, but after the fight over banning books in Fairhope, I was inspired to go this route instead,” Fugett said. “I grew up in Baldwin County. Something about it happening so close to home struck a chord with me. Now, Alabama is tossing around the idea of banning books portraying trans folks. It’s just wrong. Reading about perspective and ideas and lives of people different than us is what builds empathy. And, my goodness, we need so much more of that in this country right now.”
As Fugett mentioned, APLS will not only consider withholding state funding to Fairhope today because it continues to shelve books the state agency has deemed “sexually explicit” for minors, the APLS board is also working toward banning all positive depictions of gender transition from children and youth sections.
In Fugett’s native Baldwin County, the Spanish Fort Public Library has already gone so far as to purge children’s books depicting families with two fathers or mothers from children’s sections. That includes a book about a gay married man who has collected too many chickens, and a two-father family who begin to get into silly mix-ups while doing chores.
“People are so afraid learning about something can lead to becoming something we aren’t supposed to become, but what it really does is helps us accept ourselves and others for exactly who we are, differences and all,” Fugett said. “So, I bought this 1940 Ford pickup, and I’m building a banned books bookstore into the back of it so I can ride around the south not only selling banned books, but teaching people about them so they can see they’re not as scary as some want us to think. I can’t fix all the world’s problems, but I can do something. I’m choosing this.”
For Fugett, the mission of The Banned Wagon is a continuation of her own story.
“As a kid, the adults in my life didn’t want me exposed to certain information, and I did and believed things out of ignorance that were so harmful to others. It wasn’t until I got to college that I experienced the kind of awakening that only comes from being exposed to stories and truths told from perspectives beyond my own. That experience changed my life. It made me a better human, and that experience fuels the work I’m doing now.”
The roving bookstore will sell houseplants and antiques in addition to banned books, but it will be more than just a bookstore.
