American Library Association

The clash over freedom to read is playing out on the Gulf coast with both sides thinking they’re right. Members of the Fairhope Library Board agreed to stand their ground over books deemed too adult for younger readers. The city’s public library lost its state funding last month when the Alabama Public Library Service board voted to deny funding over books it says don’t belong in the library’s teen section. It was the agency’s first such denial over book placement.

An Alabama board is seeking to prohibit public libraries from placing books that “positively” depict transgender themes and topics in teen and children’s sections. The Alabama Public Library Service Board of Directors is considering a proposed rule change that expands the existing requirement for youth sections to be free of “material deemed inappropriate for children.”

At Miles College in Fairfield, Alabama, former student Candice Hardy directs the campus resource center. Hardy is of 10 recipients this year of an “I Love My Librarian Award." Each winner receives $5,000 and a $750 stipend for an association gathering next month in Phoenix.

The American Library Association is a nonprofit nonpartisan organization that has been pushing back against book bans nationwide. Alabama is among a number of states which are in the process of removing themselves from the ALA due to the organization’s defense of controversial books