The director of the Mobile Public Library addressed the Mobile City Council Committee of the Whole on Tuesday and explained the library’s purpose and mission: to inform, entertain and inspire.
The meeting followed complaints from concerned citizens who presented explicit, sexual material they claimed to find in the children’s and teen sections of the library. Citizens addressed the City Council because the library receives nearly $8.2 million of the city of Mobile’s $10.5 million annual non-subsidy grant.
Mobile County contributes more than $1.7 million annually, while the state contributes nearly $500,000.
Still, Mobile City Councilman William Carroll defended the library when voters came forward, saying it was a county entity and not a city library.
“Just remembering that there is more than one city in this county that the Mobile Public Library serves,” Carroll said. “Even though it says ‘Mobile Public Library,’ it’s not the mobile ‘city library.’ There’s a big conversation about why the city should fund a provincial entity.”
“So essentially I think it would be inappropriate to ask this city to direct something that is more provincial in this day and age where we are not a province,” he continued. “We were not a provincial municipality here. We are a city municipality.”
“I support what you guys are trying to do and what you’re doing,” Carroll added.
Library Director Margie Calhoun said the library is at risk of losing state funding due to policy requirements implemented this year by the Alabama Public Library Service (APLS). This policy is aimed at preventing sexually explicit books from being placed in the children’s section.
“They want us to create policies, governance, selection and criteria for minors and how they are protected from sexually explicit or other material deemed inappropriate for children and youth,” Calhoun said.
The library continues to work on policy changes. They are developing a new library card for minors that requires a parent at check-out. Calhoun said the library system still needs to consider other guidelines.
“We did not immediately revise our policy,” she explained. “We’re trying to wait a little bit, keep it in a pattern and see what happens.”
“There is a lawsuit pending with Autauga County,” she continued. “We’ll have to see what happens with that lawsuit. And there’s a meeting of public library directors this month and once we meet, we hope we can get some insight from each other on how to handle things.”
Although she plans to comply, Calhoun said the policy could harm libraries.
The Mobile Public Library is part of the American Library Association (ALA), a nonprofit organization that promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and has publicly supported many of the challenged sexually inappropriate materials for minors. Calhoun said that despite the APLS breaking away from the ALA, the Mobile Public Library System is part of the ALA because of its resources.
“We are members,” she said. “Our board approved our membership this year. We have always been members. It is the largest national trade association for libraries.”
Calhoun said the library applies for grants and takes advantage of professional development through the ALA. She said many library leaders benefited from the ALA conference held in San Diego this summer.
Councilman Joel Daves, who recently chastised citizens who raised concerns, said he regrets that Calhoun is dealing with state policy demands.
“I’m constantly amazed that people in Montgomery want to tell us in the backcountry exactly how to run our business,” he said. “In reality, our business is best run by people who are.”
He said what is considered sexually explicit or inappropriate for children is subjective, making the topic difficult to navigate. Daves said the Mobile City Council should not impose additional burdens on the Mobile Public Library.
Carroll agreed: “I believe in doing that yourself and that this council should not direct the Mobile Public Library to make any concessions or changes that need to be made,” he told Calhoun.
The next board meeting of the Mobile Public Library is on October 22.
To contact the author of this story or to comment, email erica.thomas@1819news.com.
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