By Chris Basinger, Staff Reporter
TRUSSVILLE–The Trussville Public Library is reviewing the organization of books within its catalog as policy changes tied to state funding may soon be coming to Alabama libraries.
In October 2023, Gov. Kay Ivey put forward a list of proposed amendments to the Alabama Public Library Service (APLS) administrative code in a letter to Dr. Nancy Pack, the director of APLS.
The proposal centered on addressing what Ivey described as “the exposure of children and youth to inappropriate materials without adequate means of parental supervision” in libraries.
The changes to the library code would include requiring library boards to enact policies on the physical location of “material deemed inappropriate for children or youth” and the approval of “materials recommended, displayed, or otherwise actively promoted to children or youth.”
The amendment would also add language stating that “exercising discretion in the location” of material deemed inappropriate for children or youth by the board and considering age when “recommending, displaying, or otherwise actively promoting library materials” would not constitute denials of service on the basis of age.
The proposal would also require that any expenditure of public funds to the American Library Association be approved by the library board in a public meeting.
If the amendments are approved, Alabama libraries would be required to follow the new policies in order to receive state supplemental funding.
While the amendments are new, the Trussville Public Library has many processes already in place that align with the proposed changes, according to Trussville Public Library Director Jason Baker.
For instance, approving a library budget with expressed expenditures is “standard practice,” Baker said.
He also said library staff have always exercised discretion with what books they recommend or what they choose to display.
“They always take age into account when making recommendations,” Baker said.
“That’s a normal experience, or process, because you interact with the patrons and you find out where they are, what they’ve been reading, what they’re in line with, and then you go from there in terms of recommendations.”
When it comes to the physical location and relocation of books, the library is already split up into different sections and genres–kids, teen, adult, fiction, cooking, self-help, etc.–but those are limited by the amount of space the library has.
When a book is added to the library, it is cataloged into one of those categories based on the author’s intention, how it is marketed, reviews, and feedback from readers.
The library, however, is looking to do more to categorize its collection and is in the process of evaluating their teen section to create space between books for younger teens and books for older teens.
“That’s a very different level of maturity and most of the stuff that, you know, you see get brought up in that for teens is coming-of-age fiction,” Baker said.
“Different people have different experiences there in different thresholds and so, you know, the board is, as ever, cognizant of that and wants to be sure that we create that separation from lower teen and, you know, upper teen fiction.”
But that separation cannot happen overnight.
The split would require the library to rearrange space for the new collections, recode the books in its digital system, relabel the books, and move them to their new shelves.
Baker added that the library also has books in the parenting section, located near the kids section but on higher shelves, that are designed for parents to teach kids about subjects such as death and sex education, which the board has decided to keep in their space.
The Trussville Public Library has also long had a process in place for patrons to request a review of a book if they feel it should be removed from its collection or moved to a different section in the library.
“Any patron has always had the ability to reach out, express a concern. If the concern isn’t addressed in a conversation, with…the department and then a director, you fill out a form, then it becomes like an actual official review and different libraries handle it slightly differently,” Baker said.
Historically, during the review process the book will be pulled until the review is complete and will be read by the library director as well as staff members and library board members.
They will then discuss the book, compare it to similar material in its section, and make a recommendation on where it should go.
“Statements of concern about books are serious, and we take them seriously,” Baker said.
One new requirement under the proposal that the library would have to adapt to, however, is the advanced approval of displays promoted to children.
Many of the displays the children’s department put up center on pop culture references and memes, meaning that time is of the essence to stay current.
But under Baker’s interpretation, this new rule would require the library board to approve every single display that the children’s department wants to put up, so if a new game or meme becomes popular right after a board meeting, the children’s department would have to wait weeks until the next meeting to get approval.
“I understand their point in this one, but you know, it creates a burden for staff and the board to respond to pop culture moments,” Baker said.
The amendments listed in Ivey’s proposal are currently in the midst of a 90-day comment period, after which the APLS will hold a public hearing on the proposal.
The comment period ends on April 30.
The full proposal and information on how to make a public comment can be found here:
- https://aplsws2.apls.state.al.us/publications-training/announcements/comment-period-for-proposed-administrative-code-changes-now-open
- https://admincode.legislature.state.al.us/api/filing/658c8e0c5bd0eca294127299/filing