Alabama public libraries are facing a fast-approaching deadline to restrict minors’ access to books about transgender people and gender identity or risk having state funding frozen.
Under rules adopted by the Alabama Public Library Service Board, materials discussing transgender procedures, what the state code calls “gender ideology,” or the existence of more than two biological genders must be removed from sections intended for children and teenagers and placed in adult collections. Libraries must also make cards issued to minors restricted by default, preventing them from checking out adult materials without parental permission.
Libraries have until the beginning of October to demonstrate compliance. Those that fail to have updated policies approved by the state could see their state aid immediately frozen.
The financial threat gives the policy considerably more teeth than a simple recommendation about where books should be shelved. At the Lawrence County Public Library, for example, state assistance represents roughly 22 percent of the library’s budget, according to WAFF.
Library director Rex Bain told the station his three-person, part-time staff is now scrambling to comply despite having received no book complaints from local patrons during his 13 years leading the library.
The rules also raise questions about exactly what qualifies a book for relocation. Bain pointed to the broad language surrounding “trans ideology,” questioning whether a book containing a transgender background character could potentially fall under the policy.
Meanwhile, Alabama Public Library Service board member Amy Minton has circulated a compilation identifying nearly 9,000 titles across Alabama library systems that she says may indicate noncompliance. The list was reportedly generated through catalog searches involving terms including “transgender” and “gender identity.”
The advocacy organization Read Freely Alabama has responded by renewing calls for Minton and board chair John Wahl to resign. The organization has also criticized discussions about creating a staff position specifically focused on helping identify books that libraries could be required to relocate or remove to maintain funding.
Wahl, who is also the Republican nominee for Alabama lieutenant governor, has defended providing libraries with additional assistance to comply with the rules. State library employees, however, have questioned whether such a position is necessary.
For transgender Alabamians, the controversy reaches beyond catalog organization.
Briar Wolf, a transgender Alabama resident, told WAFF that growing up in the state meant having virtually no positive representation of people like them. Removing those books from youth collections, Wolf argued, sends transgender young people a message that their identities themselves are inappropriate.
The Alabama fight arrives amid a broader national battle over public libraries. PEN America reported this month that libraries increasingly face political pressure involving funding, governance, and restrictions on books, displays, and programming, with LGBTQ+ and gender-related materials among frequent targets.
In Alabama, however, the consequences are now immediate: move the books, restrict access, satisfy the state’s requirements, or potentially lose money libraries depend on to keep their doors open.
