The Alabama Public Library Service board held a crowded meeting on May 8, with over 30 speakers attending to address the board. The majority of speakers spoke out against the board’s recent actions, which their critics describe as censorship.
After hearing from members of the community who argued that it wasn’t clear what the board meant when it defined material as “sexually explicit,” the board approved an official definition.
An opinion released by the board says, “‘Sexually Explicit’ is defined as any visual, written, or audio content that depicts or describes sexual conduct.” According to the opinion, sexual intercourse, nudity, bestiality, masturbation, sadistic or masochistic abuse or lascivious exhibition all fall under what would be considered sexually explicit.
Additionally, while it was not passed during the meeting, board member Amy Minton brought forward a proposal that would ban any material in the children or teen section that spoke positively of transgender procedures or contained positive portrayals of LGBTQ+ themes.
Many of those in attendance of the meeting spoke specifically to the board regarding the Fairhope Public Library, which, in March, became a focal point for both sides in the debate after the APLS suspended its funding claiming that the staff had failed to follow mandatory guidelines and procedures by not removing certain books from the children and teen sections of the library.
According to Fairhope, several books were reviewed and then moved to the adult section, but some books, after review, were not deemed inappropriate for children.
“For me, something that is sexually explicit is written to arouse you and to titillate. These books do not do that,” Randal Wright, a board member for Fairhope Public Library told the Alabama Reflector in March. “These books have a brief mention about something, but the whole book is not about that.”
Specifically, the library left “Sold,” a National Book Award finalist written for young adults that tells the story of a girl trafficked into sex slavery in India, on the shelves in the young adult section. This book was cited as inappropriate by some members of the community who spoke at the March APLS meeting where the board chose to cut funding.
Soon after the APLS decision to cut funding became public, a fundraiser was launched which raised almost $47,000 to support the library and make up for the $40,000 in lost funding.
John Wahl, APLS chair, said that the APLS board was waiting until the Fairhope Public Library had finished reviewing several requests to move books from the children and teen sections into the adult sections before they revisited the issue of funding.
Fairhope’s director and the chair of the library board were both present at the meeting and addressed the board.
“I have witnessed the standards of the majority of the citizens of Fairhope who have spoken out in support of our library,” Wright said. “And I believe we are adhering to the APLS guidelines while also listening to the community standards of Fairhope.”
Alabama top stories in brief
Juneteenth bill sent to Gov. Ivey for final signature
- After approval from both the state House and Senate, HB165 makes its way to Gov. Kay Ivey’s office.
- This comes after many years where similar bills were rejected or were forced to add amendments to make state employees choose between celebrating Juneteenth or Jefferson Davis, a documented slaveholder and white supremist.
- A spokesperson of the governor said Ivey plans to sign it into law, which will close all state government offices on June 19 in recognition of the end of slavery in the U.S.
Alabama sets third execution in 2025 for June
- Gregory Hunt will be the third person executed in Alabama this year by nitrogen gas on June 10.
- Hunt was convicted on three counts of murder, and his execution is for the sexual assault and murder of Karen Lane on Aug. 2, 1988.
- The two previous executions were for similar convictions, by Demetrius Frazier and James Osgood.
Court rules that Alabama intentionally discriminated against Black voters
- A federal court ruled on May 8 that the Alabama Legislature had intentionally discriminated against Black voters when redrawing the congressional district map in 2023.
- Additionally, in their opinion, the three-panel court states that “the Legislature deliberately ignored our order because it wanted another bite at the apple in the Supreme Court.”
- The court said that it would consider a request by the plaintiffs in the case that Alabama once again be required to have all congressional redistricting efforts placed under preclearance.
- In 2022, the court had ordered Alabama to redraw its congressional districts after siding with plaintiffs in a case arguing that the 2021 maps violated the Voting Rights Act; the case was taken to the Supreme Court, who agreed with the lower court’s ruling. The legislature approved a map in 2023, which the court rejected for failing to meet the requirements placed upon them by the court.
- Out of the three U.S. Circuit Judges that preside on panel, two were appointees of President Donald Trump and one was appointed by former President Bill Clinton.
Bill to raise age of medical consent to 16 passes House
- SB101 would raise the age at which a minor can give consent to medical, dental and mental health services for themselves, without a parent or guardian, from 14 to 16.
- The bill does include exceptions for when the minor is in imminent danger, requires immediate grief counseling or if the student is suspected to be a victim of abuse or neglect.
- The bill also excludes minors who are pregnant, emancipated, not dependent on a guardian or living separate from a guardian.
- And there are specific treatments which are excluded from the bill so that minors may still access them without parental consent, including checking for a pregnancy, detecting a reportable disease and treating drug dependency, alcohol toxicity or a sexually transmitted disease.
- SB101 passed the House and has been sent back to the Senate.
Detained international student requests to voluntarily deport
- Alireza Doroudi, a doctoral student at the University of Alabama who was detained by the Immigration Customs and Enforcement agency on March 25, has announced that he will voluntarily deport and return to Iran.
- Since his arrest, Doroudi has been incarcerated in an ICE facility.
- Doroudi was arrested for a revoked student visa. After his arrest, ICE claimed that he was a national security threat, though no explanation was given for what made him a threat and ICE told the judge in the case that they were unable to provide evidence.
Gov. Kay Ivey signs budget bills for 2026 fiscal year
- On May 5, Gov. Kay Ivey signed bills approving the budgets for both the Education Trust Fund and Alabama’s General Fund.
- The ETF provides close to $10 billion in funding, which is a 6% increase from the last budget.
- Some key elements in the ETF budget include:
- $99.2 million increase for the Public Education Employees’ Health Insurance Plan.
- $9.6 million to provide parental leave for state and education employees.
- $15.6 million for a new public education employee injury compensation program.
- The General Fund budget is approximately $3.7 billion and is a 10% increase from the previous budget.
- Some key elements include:
- A $90.1 million increase in funding for the Alabama Department of Corrections, bringing their total budget up to $826.7 million.
- A $223.8 million increase in funding for Medicaid.
- A $4.7 million increase in funding for the Department of Human Resources.
- A $4.7 million increase for the Department of Mental Health.
Our articles you might have missed
- With summer right around the corner, you might be looking for new places to visit with family. Check out our latest article by Josie Jones, which covers Butch Anthony’s Museum of Wonder. Located in Seale, Alabama, the museum promotes itself as “the world’s first drive through museum.”
Announcements
- We’ve officially launched the Alabama Spotlight, our new multimedia project focusing on people, places and things unique to Alabama. You can listen to the first episode about our trip to Spectre, an abandoned movie set from the film “Big Fish” on Spotify.
Authors
Want to get early access to columns, unique newsletters and help keep The Sunrise News active? Then support us on Ko-Fi!