With its state funding at risk, Fairhope city and library officials are contemplating a review of approximately 35 books deemed by state library officials to be “sexually explicit” and inappropriate for teen readers.

The review will have to be approved by the Fairhope Library Board during its April 21 meeting. The review was requested by John Wahl, chairman of the Alabama Public Library Services board of directors as well as the Alabama State GOP.

Wahl met with Fairhope Mayor Sherry Sullivan, City Attorney Marcus McDowell, and representatives of the Fairhope library during a video conference call Wednesday.

“We got some clarification, and we will go back and see if these books need to be moved,” said Fairhope Library board member Randal Wright. “That will be a decision the board makes.”

If the library board approves the review, it could pit differing interpretations over what is considered ‘sexually explicit’ content, which is a concern being raised by groups like Read Freely Alabama. It could also thrust the city into a First Amendment squabble, similar to the ongoing federal court case over the policies restricting books available inside the Autauga-Prattville Public Library.

Sullivan emphasized the importance of the review for maintaining the book courier service with 13 Baldwin County libraries.

Also at risk is state funding the library receives from the Alabama Public Library Service. The Fairhope library gets around $42,000 annually during a fiscal year that begins Sept. 1.

For this fiscal year, the cut could amount to around $21,000. However, that amount would not cause any closures of the Fairhope Library which operates on a budget of more than $1 million a year, Sullivan has said.

The APLS has characterized the cut as a “temporary pause” in the Fairhope Library System’s funding.

“For us to maintain the programming we have with the county and the funding we get from APLS, we have to meet the APLS guidelines,” Sullivan said. “We want to maintain the relationship with the county system. It’s a cooperative effort with the county and it’s quite a bit of services we can offer to our citizens and throughout the county.”

Sullivan said she wants to make sure the library communicates with parents that they can apply for and receive all-access library cards. The cards, with a parent’s approval, gives children of any age access to any section in a public library.

Fairhope library officials report that 51% of parents have applied for all-access cards since the new state administrative code was implemented last summer. These cards, with parental approval, grant children of any age access to all library sections. The other card options are for teens (ages 13-17) and juveniles (ages 3-12).

Sullivan’s comments come after a tumultuous week for the library and for Fairhope, which has received national attention over the library dispute that began last Thursday during the APLS board meeting.

The Fairhope library became the first in the state to have its state funding cut by the APLS over what state library officials said was a violation of the administrative codes adopted last year.

Library supporters fought back and quickly raised $44,000 online to supplant the state funding cut.

Sullivan and Wright both said that neither city nor library officials were given notification that a cut could be forthcoming. The cut did get consideration after Rebecca Watson, the Baldwin County representative for the conservative group Moms for Liberty, raised concerns that Fairhope – despite past pressures to do so – had not moved a host of books the group deemed sexually explicit to an adult section in the library.

On Monday, during the Fairhope City Council meeting, Sullivan said it was important for city and library officials to get more clarity on what constitutes a sexually explicit book.

Sullivan said that Wahl, during their conversation, said a sexually explicit book includes sex acts and nudity. She said if any book contains either, Wahl instructed her that it needs to be moved to out of a section dedicated for minors under age 18.

Wahl’s office did not respond to an email request for comment.

“The books in question are in our teen section which is for children ages 13 to 17,” Sullivan said.

She said that the discussion with Wahl included questions over the subjective nature of what entails sexually explicit content. Books on religion, history, biology, or human anatomy are still available to minors under the APLS code changes. But concerns, including those from APLS board member Ron Snider, suggest that the code changes regulating “sexually explicit” will invite lawsuits.

Wahl stated that the APLS has consistently safeguarded children from accidental exposure to sexually explicit materials. He said the new code changes require new policies and the relocation of certain books from youth sections.

Wahl emphasized that the new code changes are designed to protect children from inappropriate material without parental consent. He clarified that the APLS is not attempting to censor or ban books, but rather to empower parents to decide what their children have access to.

At last week’s APLS board meeting, representatives with the conservative group, Moms for Liberty, held up examples on books they believe are incorrectly shelved. Wahl also admitted that the decision to suspend state funding for Fairhope came only after the APLS was presented with “incredibly vulgar and explicit” books.

One of the books in question is “Sold,” a National Book Award finalist about a girl who is sold into sexual slavery in India.

During Monday’s Fairhope council meeting, residents criticized the APLS and Moms for Liberty for equating sensitive topics with books about sexuality that could be considered “sexually explicit” based on excerpts.

“What is age appropriate to learn about human behavior in the world they live in?” said Caleb Whitehead of Fairhope. He criticized the APLS for creating an environment that could be harmful to children, and said the effort to defund the library wasn’t a “one-off” but a coordinated attack by Moms for Liberty with support from the APLS.

Critics of Moms for Liberty contend the group is pushing to have LGBTQ-related content removed from libraries nationwide. A representative with the Moms for Liberty chapter in Baldwin County did not respond to a request for comment. The group, Clean Up Alabama, which has pushed for similar efforts in other parts of Alabama, also did not respond to a request for comment.

Clean Up Alabama has presented two dozen books it believes is deemed inappropriate. Of those, 16 have LGBTQ characters or themes.

Elizabeth Williams, the Baldwin County representative for Read Freely Alabama, believes Fairhope’s policies and cataloging are compliant with the state code and that moving books is unnecessary.

Williams acknowledged that Fairhope could adopt its own policies on “sexually explicit” content, but warned that this could lead to issues. She pointed out that a toddler board book about human anatomy could be deemed “nudity” and moved to the adult section.

Williams stated that implementing such a policy would necessitate closing the teen section and removing all books with any mention of human sexuality.

She added, “A lot of the books in the library will go to the adult section. At this point, what is the use of having sections? It’s beyond silly to put a board book for toddlers in an adult section or one for young adults that is appropriate for teenagers to the adult section. It’s a slippery slope and a scary place for the First Amendment to be in.”