For the past six months, the Fairhope Public Library has been fighting to have state funding restored after the Alabama Public Library Service board suspended the aid claiming noncompliance with state code.
Ralph Chapoco of the Alabama Reflector reported Monday that over half of that annual funding—about $22,000—is officially gone, distributed by APLS to other libraries in Baldwin County.
APLS Chair John Wahl, also head of the Alabama Republican Party, told APR Monday that the library missed a June 30 deadline to reach compliance and that the staff and board members of the Fairhope Library should have known that the funding for the fiscal year would not be available.
“This is not a new process. This is well-established. You have to be at compliance at third-quarter distribution,” Wahl said. “I am genuinely confused by the Fairhope board’s comments because this is something libraries across the state deal with every year and they received direct communication on this.”
APR could not reach Fairhope Library Board Chair Randal Wright in time for publication, but she told the Reflector in Monday’s article that loss of funding had her “disappointed, shocked, confused (and) angry.”
“The bottom line is that I am really disappointed in how APLS has handled this,” Wright said. “I am very disturbed that we have lost this funding, it is a critical part of our library’s budget.”
The APLS has had two meetings since the June 30 deadline Wahl mentioned, once in July and another in September. At the July meeting, Fairhope had reviewed all but one books that the APLS board required the library to review in order to become compliant. Wahl said at that meeting that the board needed to wait for Fairhope to complete its review before any action could be taken.
When Fairhope came with a completed review in September, Wahl suggested the board members needed to review Fairhope’s actions to avoid making any “knee-jerk reactions.”
The loss of funding is offset by a fundraiser held for the library days after the APLS board suspended the money, with the community raising $40,000 within a week to ensure uninterrupted service.
The funding fight comes as some Fairhope Library users have claimed that the library continues to shelve “sexually explicit” books in teen and children’s sections in violation of state code. After the funding pause, the Fairhope board conducted a second review of challenged materials and moved seven books out of the teen section while keeping numerous others in place.
The APLS board meets Thursday and could determine whether the library’s actions bring it into compliance with the administrative code moving forward. Or, Wahl said, that decision could be delayed yet again.
APLS Boardmember Ron Snider, former chair and representative of Fairhope’s district, has decried the withholding of funding to the library, accusing Wahl and others on the board of promoting an agenda of censorship.
The board meets at 1 p.m. on Thursday at the APLS building in Montgomery.
