I will call note to the plans of these hate groups. The statement outlines the primary mission for Alabama’s two chapters of Moms for Liberty in 2024: to apply for library board appointments, submit reconsideration forms for books they consider inappropriate, and discuss issues with local government officials who control public libraries, such as county commissions and city councils.Also note what they call pornographic material. It is simply any media that has LGBTQIA characters, plots, or even mentions them in a positive way. It is a way to mask their flat out bigotry and hate. Please understand had restricts been on when kids can come to the library or that they must be accompanied would have stopped me from one of my safe spaces to go to after school and I wouldn’t have been able to read because I couldn’t have books at home. Also as I got older the few books I did find on abuse and having gay characters or information about being gay saved my sanity which was teetering on a very thin edge over a cliff. Hugs. Scottie
Children’s section at the North Shelby Public Library in Mt. Laurel
The conservative political group Moms For Liberty sent a letter last week that asked the state legislature and the public library service to withhold funds for libraries that allow children to check out “pornographic” materials. It also wants the Alabama Public Library Service to create software that prevents a minor from checking out books outside of their age range.
The statement outlines the primary mission for Alabama’s two chapters of Moms for Liberty in 2024: to apply for library board appointments, submit reconsideration forms for books they consider inappropriate, and discuss issues with local government officials who control public libraries, such as county commissions and city councils.
“It is time for the Alabama legislature to utilize the power of state funding and directives to APLS to push towards meaningful and long-lasting changes that protect minors and empower parents to have their voice heard,” the release said.
APLS director Dr. Nancy Pack said it’s possible for local libraries to install software to limit minors from checking out adult books, but she thinks children and teens would still find a way around the system to check out the materials they want.
“The only way that you are going to keep children from checking out materials that the parent feels are inappropriate for their child is to have parental guidance and for the parents to have a sit down talk with their children saying this is what you may check out,” Pack said.
Emily Jones, of the Madison County chapter of Moms for Liberty, said the organization doesn’t want to remove books from libraries, “rather that books be placed in a manner that allows parental oversight when sexually explicit material is included.”
That goes for all books, she said, including non-children’s Bibles.
Jones said her group isn’t targeting books with themes such as racism or LGBTQ issues but is focusing on books recommended by the American Library Association to be moved out of children’s sections. They feel the ALA is “pushing for books that sexualize and groom children.”
“Any book that sexualizes children, exposes children to sexual content to include incest and rape, should raise concerns for any adult regardless of their political beliefs or organizational associations,” Jones said.
The group said a 9-year-old recently checked out George Johnson’s book “All Boys Aren’t Blue” at the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library. Moms For Liberty said this book is “pornographic” because it includes references to sexual assault and incest. The book doesn’t condone incest but depicts a character being assaulted by a relative. “All Boys Aren’t Blue” is listed in the library catalog as an eBook, and a print version is in the young adult section of the downtown branch.
According to Moms for Liberty, the library copy included a sticker reading, “This book was generously donated by TVA funding grant from Sen. Sam Givhan.”
Givhan told AL.com that he realized in November that the library purchased the book with funding allocated by the Tennessee Valley Authority through the state legislature. Givhan said he wasn’t involved in picking books for purchase, and asked the library to remove the sticker.
Givhan requested the library remove the acknowledgment. He said “referencing it as an LGBT book glosses over the details of the book and the age issues involved.” He added that he supports books “being properly placed in the library in age-appropriate areas along the lines supported by Moms For Liberty.”
Givhan is the only legislator mentioned in the group’s letter, and he said he’s supportive of Moms For Liberty’s goals.
The Southern Poverty Law Center named Moms For Liberty as an anti-government group in 2023 on its “Hate Map.” Jones said the designation by the SPLC is propaganda “to try and silence a movement they disagree with.”
“I love my country and the principles on which it was founded, which includes a limited role of the government,” Jones said. “I believe our country and state are best served when local citizens are making the decisions that align with the value system of their community.”
Jones said since publishing the release, she’s received emails, calls and “in-person accolades of support for our efforts.”
Library advocacy group Read Freely Alabama countered with its own statement. They emphasized that the American Library Association doesn’t control Alabama libraries and that pornography isn’t in children’s books in Alabama’s public libraries.
The group’s recommendations include suggesting libraries create material reconsideration policies “that operate from a neutral viewpoint and do not impose partisan and ideological worldviews on a community at large.” RFA also suggests every library create a policy limiting unsupervised minors.
“Read Freely Alabama urges our state leaders to consider these reasonable alternatives to the unreasonable demands of a minority who have persecuted fellow American citizens and defamed a profession in their quest for political power,” the statement read.
Pack said the American Library Association offers guidelines, not policies. The APLS board is waiting for an opinion from the attorney general regarding the role of the APLS over local libraries and will decide in a later board meeting whether or not to leave the ALA.
“We are in an advisory role and local boards dictate what materials belong in their collection,” Pack said. She added taxpayer dollars only fund some books while foundations and non-profit organizations donate books also.
I am an older gay guy in a long-term wonderful relationship. My spouse and I are in our 36th year together. I love politics and news. I enjoy civil discussions and have no taboo subjects. My pronouns are he / him / his and my email is Scottiestoybox@gmail.com
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9 thoughts on “Moms for Liberty wants funds cut to Alabama libraries that let kids check out ‘pornographic material’”
Sexually, illicit reading materials, pornographic materials, should NOT be, available to children. If the public libraries want to have these books, the least they should do, is, to, put these, collections in a, restricted, section, and, keep it out of the reaches of those under 18! But, these materials, don’t belong, in the, public library, systems in the first place.
as a former librarian, I can tell you that children are NOT given access to anything pornographic. They can not check out adult content books. PERIOD. Once again, people have zero idea of the books that are located in public libraries. As for “porn” all one needs to do is look to the “romance” section in any library to find sexually explicit writing. Those books are consistently checked out and the hold list is usually months long for access… MFL is nothing but a group of illiterate rabidly conservative women with nothing better to do than start a war where none is needed in order to distract the general populace from paying attention to the autocratic trends of the Republican Party.
Hello Suze. Thank you. People don’t understand how incredibly deceitful these groups like MFL are being. They call anything that is remotely supportive of LGBTQIA pornographic and sexual grooming. Please see the note I wrote TAURUSINGEMINI. Plus all kids mature at different rates, some might be ready to understand some subjects / books at 9 or 12 or 14.
As a gay boy growing up in the 1970s in a small town, hearing what people were saying about those who felt like me based on the crap spewed by Anita Bryant and the local churches it left me in a bad state. Plus being abused at home. I felt I must deserve the abuse, I felt I had nowhere to turn because I was damaged, evil, and going to hurt other kids according to Bryant. Not being allowed to have any books including school books at home, the libraries were my only refuge. I thank the librarians at our small town library, as they understood my situation better than I thought they did. Not only did they let me keep my books behind their desk each day when I had to go home, they started directing me to books about positive gay people and books on how to deal with domestic abuse, beatings, and being raped. I know they wanted to do more now that I look back, but felt they couldn’t. Even though I couldn’t bring my self to tell them I was the kid in the books they said I might want to read, I did learn from them and used the information to protect my self better. As a young teen, I started my healing journey in the local small town library. Remember back then there was no internet, no where but the library to turn to.
As for books turning or making anyone gay, lesbian, or trans, that defies known science and medical information. It doesn’t and can’t happen no more than watching straight people kiss in movies or reading about straight kids dating made me straight back then.
Suze thank you for all your comments. I plan over the next few days to answer them. I enjoy your thoughts on what I post. Hugs. Scottie
Hi TAURUSINGEMINI. Did you read what I wrote at the start of the post? The problem is not restricting porn from younger children, but what is considered porn / sexual instruction. The people pushing these rules and the people wanting them are using the word porn to mean anything that has LGBTQIA characters, plots, or even side mentions. It is not about showing kids porn. No one is doing that. It is about wiping all and any mention of gay, lesbian, trans, or anything not cis straight out of the libraries.
It is trying to return the country to the 1950s society. It is about removing anything positive about gay, lesbian, or trans kids / people, so all kids see in books or movies is straight cis people. These rules also get rid of anti-bulling programs / posters because the posters are illegal, and the teachers can not come to the defense of LGBTQIA kids without breaking the laws.
One of the authors of the first don’t say gay bill in Florida said he wrote it / joined it because he as a Christian couldn’t stand that gay and trans kids coming out to their peers in school were accepted instead of being targeted and abused. Yes he said that repeatedly. He hated that gay and trans kids were accepted by other students instead of abused and ostracized. He wanted kids who were not straight or cis to feel so afraid they stayed hidden and did not be themselves out of fear of being hurt.
Trust me, LGBTQIA kids exist and are in need of seeing themselves and people like them in books, movies, and society. It does make a difference. Things have changed so much from the bad days I grew up in. Feeling alone, hearing only the worst things said about people who feel like I did. These people pushing these rules want to bring those bad times back. That is what this is about. Hugs. Scottie
For a self-described parental rights organization, MFL sure doesn’t seem to lay any responsibility for children’s reading on their families. Dr. Pack noted above that families (she said parents, but of course everyone doesn’t have specifically parents so I say families) need to speak with the kids, and supervise them. Duh. I think the USA was founded on similar premises; people need to take a little responsibility so we don’t have to have a monarch telling us what to and not to do. How on earth have people forgotten about that? Not to mention, is there any news about people who are PO’d about helping/donating to MFL when they’re all so corrupt? It’s nothing but another rightwing grift.
Also, we love librarians, and we did supervise our kid; we even read to and with him. Even taught him how to use the card catalogue! We bought 2 banned books every year during Banned Books Week. Back when “South Park” became a thing kids his age were sneaking in, we decided to let him sit up and watch. Kinda funny story; it was the tooth fairy episode. At the end, I mentioned that, well, our idea of letting him watch to take away the fascination took the tooth fairy truth out of our hands. He just smiled, and said he’d known for a couple of years, but free money is free money, and he still had 2 more molars to go, too. Dang kids! But, he’s the owner of many, many banned books.
Hi Ali. Well said, very well said. Yes they are for parents rights, providing the parents are them, and they are the only one with rights. They don’t care about the rights of the parents who are supportive of LGBTQIA kids or are progressive parents like yourself. As I said before, this is about returning society to the 1950s and removing groups they don’t like from public view. Hugs. Scottie
I will admit I only skimmed through this. But. I’m really tired of people feeling so free to get into other people’s business. Remember the good ole days when the most controversial thing you could do in a library was sneak peaks at the National Geographic magazines?
Kids and adults go to a library for one main reason: information. Do these folks not realize that going to a library for information is one of the safest thing their kids could be doing? What are the other options, hmmm? So, instead of helping their children find their way in life, these dictators have decided to make this safe place risky, requiring running a gauntlet of objectors to free information and subjecting the kids to even more judgement and recriminations than they are already dealing with from peers, bullies, ill-informed adults and themselves.
Well said Randy. Why are these people scared of different ideas and ways of thinking or feeling. No one cares if they do their thing, why do they have to insist everyone else do what they do only. Why not just let people be. Live and let live. Hugs. Scottie
Scottie's Playtime 
Sexually, illicit reading materials, pornographic materials, should NOT be, available to children. If the public libraries want to have these books, the least they should do, is, to, put these, collections in a, restricted, section, and, keep it out of the reaches of those under 18! But, these materials, don’t belong, in the, public library, systems in the first place.
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as a former librarian, I can tell you that children are NOT given access to anything pornographic. They can not check out adult content books. PERIOD. Once again, people have zero idea of the books that are located in public libraries. As for “porn” all one needs to do is look to the “romance” section in any library to find sexually explicit writing. Those books are consistently checked out and the hold list is usually months long for access… MFL is nothing but a group of illiterate rabidly conservative women with nothing better to do than start a war where none is needed in order to distract the general populace from paying attention to the autocratic trends of the Republican Party.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Hello Suze. Thank you. People don’t understand how incredibly deceitful these groups like MFL are being. They call anything that is remotely supportive of LGBTQIA pornographic and sexual grooming. Please see the note I wrote TAURUSINGEMINI. Plus all kids mature at different rates, some might be ready to understand some subjects / books at 9 or 12 or 14.
As a gay boy growing up in the 1970s in a small town, hearing what people were saying about those who felt like me based on the crap spewed by Anita Bryant and the local churches it left me in a bad state. Plus being abused at home. I felt I must deserve the abuse, I felt I had nowhere to turn because I was damaged, evil, and going to hurt other kids according to Bryant. Not being allowed to have any books including school books at home, the libraries were my only refuge. I thank the librarians at our small town library, as they understood my situation better than I thought they did. Not only did they let me keep my books behind their desk each day when I had to go home, they started directing me to books about positive gay people and books on how to deal with domestic abuse, beatings, and being raped. I know they wanted to do more now that I look back, but felt they couldn’t. Even though I couldn’t bring my self to tell them I was the kid in the books they said I might want to read, I did learn from them and used the information to protect my self better. As a young teen, I started my healing journey in the local small town library. Remember back then there was no internet, no where but the library to turn to.
As for books turning or making anyone gay, lesbian, or trans, that defies known science and medical information. It doesn’t and can’t happen no more than watching straight people kiss in movies or reading about straight kids dating made me straight back then.
Suze thank you for all your comments. I plan over the next few days to answer them. I enjoy your thoughts on what I post. Hugs. Scottie
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi TAURUSINGEMINI. Did you read what I wrote at the start of the post? The problem is not restricting porn from younger children, but what is considered porn / sexual instruction. The people pushing these rules and the people wanting them are using the word porn to mean anything that has LGBTQIA characters, plots, or even side mentions. It is not about showing kids porn. No one is doing that. It is about wiping all and any mention of gay, lesbian, trans, or anything not cis straight out of the libraries.
It is trying to return the country to the 1950s society. It is about removing anything positive about gay, lesbian, or trans kids / people, so all kids see in books or movies is straight cis people. These rules also get rid of anti-bulling programs / posters because the posters are illegal, and the teachers can not come to the defense of LGBTQIA kids without breaking the laws.
One of the authors of the first don’t say gay bill in Florida said he wrote it / joined it because he as a Christian couldn’t stand that gay and trans kids coming out to their peers in school were accepted instead of being targeted and abused. Yes he said that repeatedly. He hated that gay and trans kids were accepted by other students instead of abused and ostracized. He wanted kids who were not straight or cis to feel so afraid they stayed hidden and did not be themselves out of fear of being hurt.
Trust me, LGBTQIA kids exist and are in need of seeing themselves and people like them in books, movies, and society. It does make a difference. Things have changed so much from the bad days I grew up in. Feeling alone, hearing only the worst things said about people who feel like I did. These people pushing these rules want to bring those bad times back. That is what this is about. Hugs. Scottie
LikeLiked by 1 person
For a self-described parental rights organization, MFL sure doesn’t seem to lay any responsibility for children’s reading on their families. Dr. Pack noted above that families (she said parents, but of course everyone doesn’t have specifically parents so I say families) need to speak with the kids, and supervise them. Duh. I think the USA was founded on similar premises; people need to take a little responsibility so we don’t have to have a monarch telling us what to and not to do. How on earth have people forgotten about that? Not to mention, is there any news about people who are PO’d about helping/donating to MFL when they’re all so corrupt? It’s nothing but another rightwing grift.
Also, we love librarians, and we did supervise our kid; we even read to and with him. Even taught him how to use the card catalogue! We bought 2 banned books every year during Banned Books Week. Back when “South Park” became a thing kids his age were sneaking in, we decided to let him sit up and watch. Kinda funny story; it was the tooth fairy episode. At the end, I mentioned that, well, our idea of letting him watch to take away the fascination took the tooth fairy truth out of our hands. He just smiled, and said he’d known for a couple of years, but free money is free money, and he still had 2 more molars to go, too. Dang kids! But, he’s the owner of many, many banned books.
Sigh. Anyway.
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(Oh, yeah. Our kid has been an adult for several years now; he’s an old zoomer.)
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Hi Ali. Well said, very well said. Yes they are for parents rights, providing the parents are them, and they are the only one with rights. They don’t care about the rights of the parents who are supportive of LGBTQIA kids or are progressive parents like yourself. As I said before, this is about returning society to the 1950s and removing groups they don’t like from public view. Hugs. Scottie
LikeLiked by 1 person
I will admit I only skimmed through this. But. I’m really tired of people feeling so free to get into other people’s business. Remember the good ole days when the most controversial thing you could do in a library was sneak peaks at the National Geographic magazines?
Kids and adults go to a library for one main reason: information. Do these folks not realize that going to a library for information is one of the safest thing their kids could be doing? What are the other options, hmmm? So, instead of helping their children find their way in life, these dictators have decided to make this safe place risky, requiring running a gauntlet of objectors to free information and subjecting the kids to even more judgement and recriminations than they are already dealing with from peers, bullies, ill-informed adults and themselves.
sad.
randy
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well said Randy. Why are these people scared of different ideas and ways of thinking or feeling. No one cares if they do their thing, why do they have to insist everyone else do what they do only. Why not just let people be. Live and let live. Hugs. Scottie
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