May 21 – The Alabama Public Library Service will operate on a limited budget after the Alabama Legislature approved a nearly 9 percent budget cut, despite what board members viewed as a “good faith effort” to meet lawmakers’ demands to fulfil.
A total of $15 million of the recently approved $11 billion Education Trust Fund was allocated to the APLS, the majority of which provides funding for external programs. Government Kay Ivey proposed allocating $4.1 million for APLS operations, but on May 16, Board Chairman Ronald Snider said the Alabama House of Representatives had cut the 2025 operating budget by 18 percent. The Senate restored half of those funds, resulting in a reduction of approximately $350,000.
“It will do tremendous damage to this agency, which has a limited staff of 40 people,” Snider said. “I think it’s a tragedy in terms of what this agency does and what we’re increasingly being asked to do.”
APLS board member and ALGOP chairman John Wahl agreed with Snider’s disappointment over the cuts and said he had urged his party’s lawmakers to reconsider their positions, but to no avail.
“I have certainly worked hard to communicate with everyone about the importance of this board and the value it provides to local communities,” Wahl said.
When reached by phone Friday, Wahl said any cuts to staff or programs in response to the reduced budget would be strictly administrative and would not impact local libraries.
Gov. Kay Ivey proposed APLS policy changes to limit access to material deemed “sexually inappropriate” in a letter to Director Nancy Pack in October 2023, in response to a series of statewide book challenges from conservative “parental rights” organizations largely focused on the removal of books containing LGBTQ+ content or characters.
Ivey’s recommendations sparked controversy and requests for a 90-day public comment period before finalizing the proposed policy changes. Alabama lawmakers included provisions within the ETF stating that local libraries would not be eligible for state funding unless the policy was updated in accordance with the governor’s proposals.
The board approved stricter policy changes on May 16. Wahl presented a rewritten amendment originally offered by board member Amy Minton that grew out of proposals from the conservative “parental rights” organization Eagle Forum of Alabama.
Wahl said he believed the changes brought more clarity and guidance to Ivey’s proposal, which many had suggested was too vague. Wahl’s changes include:
— Adopt written guidelines ensuring that library sections intended for minors under the age of 18 remain free of material containing obscenity, sexually explicit, or other material deemed inappropriate for children or youth. Age-appropriate materials relating to religion, history, biology or human anatomy shall not be construed as violating this rule.
— Adopt written selection criteria for minors that prevent the purchase or otherwise acquisition of materials advertised to consumers under the age of 18 that contain obscenity, sexually explicit, or other material deemed inappropriate for children or youth. Age-appropriate materials relating to religion, history, biology or human anatomy shall not be construed as violating this rule.
— To approve written guidelines establishing library cards for minors under the age of 18, parental consent is required before a minor’s card is allowed to retrieve materials from the adult sections of the library.
The policy now also requires “material selection policies, including selection criteria for minors and how they are protected from sexually explicit or other material deemed inappropriate for children or youth.”
“One of the big issues for me with the APLS is that we listen to voters. One of the most important aspects of this is that we protect the children’s areas and that there is no sexually explicit material that children can accidentally come across. I think the board has accomplished that,” Wahl said.
Wahl said “sexually explicit” would be defined using Alabama’s anti-obscenity statutes and local library boards and that the APLS would determine what constitutes “other materials deemed inappropriate for children.”
Snider said he believed these efforts were in line with lawmakers’ wishes, making the cuts an especially disheartening end to what had already been a turbulent year for public libraries in the state.
“The tragedy is that we recommended the changes the governor asked for. We thought we were responding to those requests,” Snider said. “Nine percent is a big cut that will have long-term negative consequences for what we can offer.”
Patrick Camp can be reached at 256-734-2131 ext. 238
