After an hour of discussion on Thursday, the Alabama Public Library Service (APLS) voted to not restore state funding to the Fairhope Public Library.
The Eastern Shore library has not received …
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After an hour of discussion on Thursday, the Alabama Public Library Service (APLS) voted to not restore state funding to the Fairhope Public Library.
The Eastern Shore library has not received state funding since March 2025 following complaints that inappropriate and sexually explicit material was available in sections for minors, based on new definitions from the state. The library is estimated to lose nearly $45,000 in state money in 2026. The second two installments, about half of the annual total, for 2025 were redistributed to other public libraries in Baldwin County.
Fairhope Public Library Board Chair Randal Wright and Library Director Rob Gourlay spoke at Thursday’s meeting. APLS Chairman John Wahl, who is also chair of the Alabama Republican Party, pressed the two to explain the Fairhope library's determination on several challenged books. He read excerpts from the material that the state board ultimately ended up deciding on its own what it considers sexually explicit.
Wright and Gourlay told the APLS board that it was a determination made by the library’s board of trustees, who they could not speak for as a whole since the entire group wasn’t present, and that Fairhope’s board determined the books remaining in the teen section did not violate state code. Several other challenged books were moved to adult sections.
Gourlay also told the APLS board — repeating what they've said in previous meetings — that parents can select library cards for their children based on age, with the Fairhope library offering a card that prohibits children under the age of 13 from accessing books placed in the teen section and one that gives the child full access to the teen and younger kid sections. Wright noted that the teen section is located upstairs and separate from the younger section.
"In the definition we were given, the word 'prurient' was there," Wright said. "I don't think any of this is sexually explicit in the sense that it arouses someone. It's just making some statements and talking about it as a whole. These books did not have a reason that we felt they should be moved."
They said they came to Thursday’s meeting because they were ready for a decision on funding after the board had repeatedly delayed one.
“We’ve already made a decision,” Gourlay said. “We are here to see what your decision is.”
“I’m just going to say that it’s been 11 months,” Wright said. “I’d like a decision made today.”
The state board voted on the entire list of challenged books rather than each book individually. Books that were specifically mentioned in Thursday’s discussion include “Beyond Magenta,” “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “The Perks of Being a Wallflower.” They voted 3-2 that the books contain sexually explicit content and to not restore funding to the Fairhope library. The board has seven members.
“I am tired of beating around the bush,” Wahl said. “There is sexually explicit content in these books that require the trigger warning, and we’re going to protect our children.”
Last month, two nonprofits, Read Freely Alabama and EveryLibrary Institute, donated over $42,000 to the Fairhope library it has collected from the public in the week or two after the initial freeze was put in place last March. The Fairhope library board had asked for the donation to be delayed until the APLS board made its decision.
BOOKS DETERMINED TO BE "SEXUALLY EXPLICIT" BY APLS
According to APLS officials, these books must be moved to adult sections in order for state funding to be restored to the Fairhope Public Library.
