Banned Books Week has been recognized in the U.S. since 1982 after a surge in book challenges in schools, stores and libraries.
Now 43 years later, Alabama libraries face its largest censorship campaign yet with anti-LGBTQ groups and individuals fighting to rid public libraries of materials positively depicting transgender and gay stories for youth.
So the League of Women Voters gathered for a forum during Banned Books Week on Thursday to discuss the challenges happening across the state and what to do about them.
“I’m sure most of you are aware of the two bills that were introduced during Alabama’s last legislative session which attempted to politicize our apolitical library institutions and criminalize librarians for shelving diverse viewpoints in the young adult and children sections,” said Kim Bailey, president of the League of Women Voters of Alabama. “So why is this happening? What are the implications—and what can we do?”
Joining Bailey to help answer those questions were Laura Pitts, a “Law for Librarians” trainer and presenter with the American Library Association; Amber Frey, director of member services for Read Freely Alabama; and Jessica Hayes, executive committee member at the Alabama Library Association.
In addition to attempts at legislation from Alabama lawmakers, the Alabama Public Library Service board has become the primary tool for the censorship fight. The state agency last year conditioned state funding to local libraries on keeping “sexually explicit” materials out of children and youth sections and is now contemplating a rule change to restrict positive depictions of transgender people and possibly sexual orientation.
“It has now become a weaponized tool of certain partisan groups and some outright political parties,” Hayes said. “I don’t think the role (of APLS) has changed so much as it has been weaponized; it has been taken control of by the group members that Gov. (Kay) Ivey has appointed that all of them—save a few—have strong ties to extremist groups Moms for Liberty, Heritage Foundation, Eagle Forum: all of those that have concrete partisan agenda to push Project 2025 and other anti-freedom policies and programs.”
As a former library director in the state, Pittsburgh said she remembered just five years ago how the APLS took a supportive and helpful role to librarians and how that feeling has changed amongst the state’s librarians.
“I know some of these really wonderful people that work inside of that building that I would go meet and talk to and write grants with; and they would come to my library and they would check on things and make sure our policies were up to date—so supportive,” Pitts said. “… Instead we have a lot of nonsense and chaos and clutter going on within the governing board of APLS. Libraries are not meant to be, if anything, political. They’re the one place in our society that should be the most neutral place.”
