The Baldwin County Commission voted Tuesday to terminate the current agreement with area libraries tying courier service to state funds. The libraries have signed new contracts without the funding requirement. The move comes after Fairhope and its residents lost access to the courier when the Alabama Public Library Service (APLS) denied state funding to the Fairhope library last month. The two sides disagreed over 10 young adult books the state board says meets its definition of sexually explicit. The APLS wanted the books removed from the Fairhope library’s teen section and shelved elsewhere in the library. This week, Baldwin County Administrator Roger Rendleman said the new contracts will restore Baldwin residents’ access to a large collection of material.
“When you take of the largest (libraries) out it hurts everybody,” he said.
Rendleman said the previous contract harkened back to the now defunct Baldwin County Library Cooperative. Wording in that contract initially ensured area libraries could pay for the courier service which costs Baldwin County approximately $60,000 annually. The county now pays for the courier in its entirety. Rendleman said the county’s role with libraries is simply to move books. “The county’s main position, then and now, is making sure that all the citizens in Baldwin County, especially the ones in unincorporated areas have access to libraries regardless of where you live.”
Less than a day before the commission’s vote, members of the Fairhope Library Board unanimously agreed to stand their ground regarding the challenged books. “It’s our feeling that if we’re being asked to move these books, every library in the state should be asked to move these same books,” said Randle Wright, Fairhope Library Board Chair. Wright said the board members see moving the books from the teen room to the adult section as a form of censorship. She added, “My feeling is if you give in to something like this, it’s just a slippery slope to something more.”
