After nearly two months of discourse between Gov. Kay Ivey and Alabama Public Library Service director Nancy Pack, Pack has conceded to Ivey’s concerns and suggested the APLS terminate its membership with the American Library Association.

In a memo dated Oct. 12, Pack addressed the state’s public library directors to announce the APLS will be discontinuing its institutional membership with the ALA. Individual libraries will be allowed to maintain their memberships with the organization with the approval of their respective boards of trustees, but due to the tumultuous political climate Pack suggested discontinuing the use of the ALA’s Library Bill of Rights.

“There are differing perspectives regarding Alabama’s relationship with the ALA. While the Alabama Legislature appears inclined toward disaffiliation, Gov. Ivey is recommending that individual governing boards approve expenditure of public funds related to the ALA in open meetings,” Pack said in the memo.

Gov. Ivey has said one grievance she has with the use of the ALA Library Bill of Rights is an article included in its most recent iteration which upholds children’s right to privacy by not granting parental access to library records, which she said is contradictory to Alabama law.

While Pack has clarified that the APLS have not adopted this version of the Library Bill of Rights in compliance with state regulation, ALA membership has continued to be one of the primary targets of the Prattville-based “parental-rights” group Clean Up Alabama, who in partnership with Moms For Liberty, have brought state and local library boards to the center of debates regarding the content of books in public libraries. CUA’s wave of book challenges and issues with the ALA have also gained traction with a number of ALGOP lawmakers including Rep. Susan DuBose (R-Hoover), Sen. Arthur Orr (R-Decatur) and GOP Chair John Wahl.

Wahl previously told The Times his issues with the organization primarily centered on its current leadership and social media comments made by president Emily Drabinski in which she described herself as a “Marxist lesbian.” But, interim director of the Cullman County Public Library system, Josie Harrington has said ALA membership comes with a wealth of resources which are invaluable to already underfunded public libraries.

“The ALA, for example, offers continuing education and professional development opportunities, a community of other professionals, resources on funding, grants, scholarships, and more, other resources to aid libraries in developing or implementing programs or services, aid with technical support, data on other libraries, policy and advocacy support, aid with subjects such as federal and state-level funding, and well, quite a lot more. They are a massive resource for libraries. The ALLA (Alabama Library Association) is similar, but on a sort of smaller and more local scale, being specific to Alabama libraries, so that what they offer and provide is a bit more relevant to the libraries in Alabama,” Harrington told The Times in September.

Pack’s memo also contained a clarification that restricting access to “potentially harmful content” should be viewed as synonymous with censorship, a near verbatim directive from a previous letter sent by Gov. Ivey. Pack suggested the following steps for local libraries to follow when presented with book challenges:

• Assess the situation
• Strategically determine the placement
• If feasible, create a “physical separation” of materials

The library advocacy group Read Freely Alabama have also issued a statement in response to Pack’s concession. In an emailed statement to The Times, RFA said it emphasizes with Pack’s position —which it believes was driven to legislative threats to withhold state funding to local libraries — but that it was “disheartening that we do not have stronger APLS leadership willing to stand up for Alabama’s libraries.”

“Regarding the ALA, while the forced withdrawal from the organization is a concerning first step towards political interference in what is a non-partisan institution, withdrawal will not change the operations of Alabama libraries; the ALA is not a governing body, but a professional organization. The library profession transcends the association, and we are confident that library professionals will adhere to the tenets of constitutional librarianship, with or without the ALA.”

Patrick Camp can be reached at 256-734-2131 ext. 238