Alabama

January 3, 2023

For Immediate Release:

Parents across Alabama have spent the better part of the last year researching, documenting, and
speaking out on the vast array of sexually explicit material that can be found in the libraries across Alabama.
The Governor’s Office conducted a thorough investigation of local library systems statewide that concluded
in September of 2023. Governor Ivey stated in her October letter to Alabama Public Library Services
(APLS) - “I still lack confidence that our libraries are most effectively fulfilling their mission. In my
previous letter to you, I described the core problem as the exposure of children and youth to
inappropriate materials without adequate means of parental supervision. Unfortunately, your response
does not persuade me that Alabama libraries have policies in place to strike the right balance in
responding to this problem.” This conclusion is exactly what concerned parents in Alabama have found.
There has been a marked influx of books with sexually explicit material in the past few years, and while
some librarians and library boards have been cautious and careful with adding such books to their
collections, other libraries in Alabama have not. Rather, these librarians and boards have welcomed such
books and proudly have them on display in children's and youth services departments. We now find
ourselves in a battle between parents who want to be the ones to teach their children about sex versus those
who want the librarians to provide that role, as stated by the American Library Association (ALA) in section
B.8.6.2 of their manual. There are many books that the ALA endorses and recommends that are
pornographic and available for minors. Such an example is enclosed. State Senator Sam Givhan donated to
the Huntsville-Madison library with the intent to provide funding for uplifting fiction and educational
material. The library instead purchased the book All Boys Aren’t Blue and highlighted Senator Givhan’s
name inside the book. This book is pornographic and was checked out by a nine-year-old on his child library
card. When concerned citizens speak of sexually explicit material, this is what they are referring to.
Situations like this will continue to happen to well-meaning citizens that support libraries because these
books are what the ALA is currently promoting.

The ALA has been pushing for books that sexualize and groom children for several years. In fact,
as far back as 2019, the ALA provided workshops on drag queen story hours and queer inclusion at their
annual conference - Major Librarian Conference Features Workshops On Drag Queens (thefederalist.com).
Further supporting the ALA’s push for sexual content, Article 5 of the Library Bill of Rights says that age
is not a reason to deny or abridge a person’s right to use the library, meaning that sexual content at any age
is a right. Their Bill of Rights is incorporated into every local library policy in Alabama and is currently
making book relocation efforts challenging, if not impossible. It is not the role of the librarian to provide
children with books containing pornographic images or other sexual content. Furthermore, such
responsibility puts librarians in the cross hairs.

Every local library section for minors is divided into three sections – Children’s, Juvenile and Young
Adult. The child and juvenile sections cover birth up to eleven years old. There should be no sexual content
in books or other library materials for children in the birth to eleven-year age group. This includes explicit

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Moms for Liberty is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization. The organization's mission is to organize, educate and
empower parents to defend their parental rights at all levels of government.
descriptions of rape, acts of prostitution, heterosexual sex with minors, homosexual sex with minors, gender
ideology, teachings about sexuality, graphic and comic illustrations of body parts, sexual act, and
Alabama

self-exploration, and everything in between. The young adult section covers ages twelve through eighteen.
Objective criteria should be developed and used to screen all books but specifically books for placement in
the young adult versus adult section of the library. There is no reason that any minor in Alabama should be
exposed to pornographic material and the screening process should ensure any sexual content in the young
adult section is age appropriate, minimal, and not sexually explicit.

Conservative groups and citizens across the state are doing their part to engage with local library
systems, apply to library board appointments, complete book relocation forms, and create dialogue with
local county commissions and city councils concerning this important topic. It is time for the Alabama
legislature to utilize the power of state funding and directives to APLS to push towards meaningful and
long-lasting changes that protect minors and empower parents to have their voice heard. The following
legislative action items should be considered and implemented as protective measures:

• The Alabama Public Library Services should disaffiliate from the American Library Association.
• The Alabama Public Library Services should become Alabama’s primary source of professional
development, policy suggestions and resources for local Alabama library systems instead of the ALA.
• The Alabama Public Library Services should develop a clear policy on book screening and placement that
can be recommended to local library systems.
• The Alabama Public Library Services should develop objective criteria concerning age appropriateness of
sexual content and book placement in the child, juvenile and young adult sections of public libraries.
• The state legislature should consider limiting and or removing state funding to local library systems that
refuse to act on the Governor’s call to revise current policy in regard to parental rights, book reconsideration
forms, and sexualized content for minors.
• The Alabama Public Library Services should enact a software update that prevents a minor, using a child
library card, from checking out books and resources in sections above their stated age group. A software
update is needed statewide as a protective measure.

Please consider all means necessary to rectify the harmful material readily available to minors in
Alabama libraries during the 2024 legislative session.

Emily Jones Rebecca Watson

Emily Jones Rebecca Watson
Madison County, AL Baldwin County, AL

Enclosure:
Photos from All Boys Aren’t Blue

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Moms for Liberty is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization. The organization's mission is to organize, educate and
empower parents to defend their parental rights at all levels of government.
 Alabama

Page 3 of 3
Moms for Liberty is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization. The organization's mission is to organize, educate and
empower parents to defend their parental rights at all levels of government.