A full-blown culture war showdown is set for Thursday in Montgomery, where the Alabama Public Library Service (APLS) board will face a surging crowd of speakers — now at 37 and climbing — over the fate of the Fairhope Public Library’s state funding and a heated battle over what qualifies as “sexually explicit” content.

The board had initially capped the speaker list to 23, but reversed course Wednesday.

“Everyone requested to speak will be allowed to speak,” said board member Amy Minton, who spearheaded the funding suspension to Fairhope’s library during the March meeting. Conservative groups like Eagle Forum and Gays Against Groomers are among those also expected to weigh in.

The controversy has drawn fire from across the state, including from Krysti Shallenberger, head of the Cullman County chapter of Read Freely Alabama.

“People are furious,” she said, criticizing the board — chaired by Alabama GOP leader John Wahl — for lacking transparency and pushing a right-wing agenda on book placement policy.

‘Board of censors’

At least two APLS board members, Ron Snider and Angelina Stokes, said they were not asked ahead of time about the meeting date change or if they could attend the meeting. Wahl has since disputed their claims, saying he had sent email notices to the APLS board members, and noted that meeting date changes have not been uncommon for the APLS board in the past.

Snider, who represents Fairhope and has been critical of his colleague’s handling of the library, will not be at the rescheduled meeting because of a job-related conflict. He noted that, over the years, the APLS board meetings would be lucky to draw four or five people.

“Now it’s not unusual to have hundreds show up for a meeting,” Snider said, referring to the interest about book placement and policies that are part of a nationwide culture war issue over LGBTQ content and critical race theory.

Snider sent an email to Wahl urging that his APLS colleagues respect decisions made by the local library board, which have drawn the ire of the conservative group Moms for Liberty who claim all books challenged under the state’s interpretation of “sexually explicit” material should be reshelved into adult sections.

“I continue to believe the choice of books at the local library should be made by professional librarians and local boards,” Snider wrote to Wahl. “That is exactly what is occurring in Fairhope where there is a procedure in place for patrons to question the placement of books. I believe APLS should respect such local decisions, and it is not the role of APLS to be a board of censors for Alabama.”

Wahl, in a comment to AL.com, said that every board member has their own opinion, and that “any decision made by the APLS board is made from the unique perspective from the entire membership. And, at the end of the day, it’s the majority of the board.”

Date change

Wahl said the meeting date was changed to coincide with the final day of the 2025 legislative session. He said the original intent was for APLS board members to visit the Statehouse following their board meeting.

Wahl said that visit is no longer happening because of time constraints due to a large list of guest speakers. In addition, the final day of the legislative session is not scheduled until next week.

Shallenberger, in an email Monday, claimed that the APLS board had set a 5 p.m. deadline on Friday for people to sign up to speak before the board meeting. The APLS administrative code, however, sets a deadline of “two working days” before an APLS board meeting for someone to sign up and speak.

“Now that the state legislature has changed their schedule and May 8 is no longer the final day of session, those time constraints are no longer a concern,” Wahl said, adding that each speaker will be given two-to-three minutes before the board. “Everyone who submitted a request to speak will be (allowed to do so).”

He added, “Transparency is important to me. Anyone who would not have been able to speak on (Thursday) with the time constraint would have been put on the agenda for the next meeting.”

Shallenberger criticized Wahl and the APLS board for a lack of transparency, and for what she said is a “moving of goalposts.”

“People are very angry and upset over the library issues particularly over what happened in Fairhope,” she said.

Focus on Fairhope

Indeed, most of the focus appears to be on the Fairhope Public Library, which had its annual state funding of around $42,000 temporarily suspended during the APLS board meeting in March. An online fundraiser has helped raise enough money to restore the lost funding.

The APLS board approved the suspension without feedback or responses from the Fairhope Public Library, city leaders or a host of residents who have come out in support of the library in recent months. Since then, some Fairhope city officials have criticized the APLS board for a lack of “due process” and communication.

Wahl said he has had discussions with some Fairhope city officials including Mayor Sherry Sullivan and the library director, reinforcing the APLS code changes adopted last summer. But he said there are no plans to restore the library’s funding on Thursday. He said that the Fairhope Library Board is in the process of reviewing about 12-14 books that were considered “sexually explicit” and inappropriate to be shelved in children or teen sections.

The lion’s share of the Fairhope Public Library’s funding comes from local sources, and city officials have vowed not to cut any of the nearly $1 million it provides to their library.

The funding suspension by the APLS board in March came after concerns about book placement were raised by Rebecca Watson, a representative of Moms for Liberty, a group of conservatives who have raised concerns nationally about LGBTQ content in public libraries.

Read Freely Alabama and a host of critics in Fairhope claim that the APLS board is taking its cues from Moms for Liberty, and not the majority of city residents.

The recent criticism from Moms for Liberty stems from the lack of the Fairhope Public Library board reshelving books that have been challenged.

Last month, the board voted to not reshelve two books – “Sold,” which is about sex trafficking in India, and “Groom,” which is about sexual exploitation. Library officials said neither book fits the legal description of what is deemed “obscene.” The review looks at a book’s entirety on whether it appeals to prurient interests that can be viewed as sexually stimulating or has the potential to sexually arouse someone.

Sexually explicit

The APLS board appears to be adhering to a definition of what constitutes “sexually explicit” content. A new code adopted by the APLS board last year requires those books to be relocated from children and teen sections to adult sections, regardless of sex educational value.

According to Minton, the APLS version of “sexually explicit” is to be defined as “any visual, written, or audio content that depicts or describes sexual conduct” that includes sexual intercourse, nudity, bestiality, masturbation, sadistic or masochistic abuse or lascivious exhibition.

The definition has been criticized by members of Read Freely Alabama, which is an anti-censorship group that has been battling Moms for Liberty and Clean Up Alabama for several years over book challenges.

Elizabeth Williams, the Baldwin County representative for Read Freely Alabama, argues that from a legal standpoint, sexually explicit conduct is not the same thing as sexually explicit material.

She said that Wahl and the APLS board have not defined “sexually explicit material,” and that it’s “subject to interpretation.”

“Nothing in the library should be found to be obscene and nothing in the sections for minors should be found to be harmful to minors,” Williams said. “Until the state proves otherwise, we firmly believe our library has been in full compliance with APLS rules for state aid.”

Shallenberger said that Wahl is attempting to use Fairhope, a city that has long voted Republican, as a “political example.”

Wahl responded, “There are those who are trying, a segment of people who are upset, (who are preventing) a protecting of children from sexually explicit material and are trying to create controversy and negativity instead of coming together to look for the best avenues to serve the people of Alabama.”