This Alabama library in Fairhope lost $42,000 in funding over a sex education book that has only been checked out once since 2018

The Fairhope Library Board is hopeful that after reviewing 15 challenged books in recent months, and reshelving five of them to adult sections, they will get their state funding restored.

But a member of the Alabama Public Library Services board who pushed for the Fairhope Library’s funding freeze in March, says the state money won’t be restored until all books with references to sex acts like masturbation are relocated to adult sections.

Amy Minton, a longtime critic of age-inappropriate children’s books appointed to the APLS last year, told AL.com on Monday that one of the books remaining in Fairhope’s teen section – “Doing It” by Hannah Witton – contains references to masturbation, ejaculation, and tips for non-painful sex.

As such, the book described on Amazon.com as a sex education novel should be reshelved into the adult section of a library, not a teen section for people ages 13-17.

Minton clarified the policy requirements in a statement to AL.com after the Library Board’s meeting: ‘We are not banning any books, but the policy clearly states all books containing any of these topics or even use of these words, have to be moved to the adult section of the library in order to receive funding from APLS.“

Doing It

In contrast to Minton’s view, Fairhope library board members who reviewed the 15 books requested by APLS board chair John Wahl claim that none them are ‘sexually explicit’ when considered in their full context as defined by federal law.

Two library board members were assigned to each of the books and read through them ahead of a report on each of them that was provided during Monday’s board meeting. Of the 15 books, five are being reshelved while nine others – including “Doing It” – will remain in teen sections. One of the books was not voted on.

The library board’s decisions are good for five years, meaning the books cannot be challenged again until 2030.

With “Doing It,” board chair Randal Wright and Andy Parvin read the book and neither believed it should be relocated to the adult section.

Parvin acknowledged that references to pornography, masturbation, sexting and STDs are brought up in the book. However, he said there was no information within the book that could “arouse the audience.”

“Teens are very aware of these issues,” he said. He said the book had been checked out of the library only once since its release in 2018, until recently when adults had repeatedly checked it out.

He credited the book for providing a better context of sex education than he had when he was young.

Wright said she didn’t find anything offensive written in the book.

“It’s direct,” she said. “It’s answering questions that younger kids and older teenagers have about their bodies, about changes in their bodies and about sex. It looks at it as an understanding of what is going on.”

Community standards

The board’s determination on whether to reshelve any of the 15 books to an older section are based on requirements that include, among other things, reviewing previous federal legal standards over what defines obscenity. That includes analyzing the book on whether it appeals to prurient interests that can be viewed as sexually stimulating or has the potential to sexually arouse someone.

The Fairhope board also considers “community standards” on whether a book should be relocated from one part of the library to another.

“I feel that we have followed what our policies and procedures are on this,” Wright said. “We’ve taken them into consideration, community standards for this area, and the (APLS board) wants sexually explicit (content) moved. These books are not sexually explicit.”

Minton said the Fairhope library can keep the books in the teen section based “only on their definition of obscenity,” but they will not receive state funding if they keep books with “sexually explicit” terms like masturbation, oral sex, and anal sex in the teen section.

Wahl, in a statement Tuesday, said that Fairhope library officials are “fully aware” of the APLS code and obligations.

“While the library has adopted new policies that align with state code, full compliance also requires the actual relocation of sexually explicit content from youth sections,” he said. “There are no loopholes or gray areas. The APLS Board will be glad to review the Fairhope Library Board’s decisions at our upcoming meeting, but funding will only be restored if all books containing obscenity or sexually explicit content have been relocated.”

The APLS temporarily suspended the state funding to the Fairhope Library in March. The Fairhope library receives about $42,000 annually in state funding. An online fundraiser raised around $46,000 within 12 days to help supplement the lost revenue.

The city provides the lion’s share of the library’s annual funding of around $1 million annually, and city officials have said the library is not at risk of losing it.

Library board members have said they are more worried about losing their access to the courier service within Baldwin County. The library, they said, provides 1,000 books a week to other libraries in Baldwin County. It also receives about that same amount from the other libraries as content is moved throughout the county’s public libraries.

Another issue in Fairhope is whether the city’s community standards apply in the review of library books – in other words, what type of books are available in one city may differ from what titles are provided in another.

Wright and other Fairhope library officials have argued that community standards should apply when determining whether content should remain shelved in one section as opposed to another.

Wright noted that Wahl, during a Zoom meeting with library directors in April, confirmed that a library doesn’t have to move a book even if another library in Alabama decides to shelve it in another section. Wright said at the time that Fairhope’s community concerns are different compared to Wahl and others on the APLS board.

Minton said that community standards apply to whether a “sexually explicit” book, under the APLS’ definition of the phrase, should be included in an adult section as opposed to not being allowed in the library altogether.

“It doesn’t mean for a community to decide if they will follow the Alabama Code which clearly states books with sexually explicit topics inappropriate for children must be moved to the adult section in order to receive APLS state funding,” she said.

Wahl, in his statement Tuesday, agreed.

“Community standards may guide a local library on how obscenity is defined, or if that library wishes to include sensually explicit books in their adult sections,” he said. “However, the definition of sexually explicit content is clearly outlined in law and in a memo passed by the APLS board, and the relocation of explicit content must be applied consistently across all youth sections.”

Minton said that 95% of Alabama libraries are complying.

“The library board doesn’t have to spend hours reading these books,” she said. “They can open the book and see that it shows pictures or discusses how to use sex toys, have oral or anal sex, masturbate or any of the topics on this list, according to the Alabama state code that requires sexually explicit books to be move to the adult section to receive state funding.”

Some of the compliance efforts have been time consuming, and have led to libraries closing their doors.

In Ozark last year, about 10 volunteers pulled 8,000 titles from children’s and young adult’s sections and reviewed them to ensure compliance with the APLS code. The entire effort took over a month to complete, at which time the library was closed to the public.

Minton said that any parent who wants their child or young adult to have access to books shelved in an adult section can sign a form allowing for an “all access” card to peruse a public library.

Said Wahl, “The APLS Board believes that decisions about what content children are exposed to should rest with parents. Our goal is to empower families and restore parental control over what is appropriate for their children.”

Public dispute

The APLS views over what constitutes “sexually explicit” material has drawn the ire of organizations like Read Freely Alabama, and others who believe reshelving books is akin to censorship. The group has also called the conservative groups like Moms for Liberty as a small group of “extremists” who are not representative of the general public.

Elizabeth Williams, the Baldwin County representative for Read Freely Alabama, said she was impressed with Fairhope’s efforts to read through the books, and believed it was enough to warrant the library’s funding to be restored.

“They followed the process and they followed the law,” Williams said, ahead of Minton’s comments.

The issue in Fairhope has sparked outcry during lengthy council meetings. Large crowds have shown up with attendees sometimes expressing heated views over library books and the city’s approach toward the issue.

Opponents to the APLS efforts blame the loss of funding in Fairhope on the conservative activist group, Moms for Liberty, whose representatives in Baldwin County have gone to Montgomery and raised their concerns directly with the APLS. The group has also scrutinized and led changes to library policies and book placements in Spanish Fort and Foley.

They also claim the APLS board is taking a subjective viewpoint over what “sexually explicit” means to them, and not considering expert opinions from professionally trained librarians, among others.

The supporters of Moms for Liberty’s efforts, and the APLS’ code, say the effort is aimed at protecting a “vast majority” of Alabama parents from stumbling upon “explicit” content shelved in youth and teen sections while browsing for books in sections intended for young readers.

Politics

In Fairhope, library officials have criticized the APLS board make-up, and Wright has even written a letter to Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey demanding that Wahl, as chairman of the Republican Party, be removed from his role. She said the board should remain non-partisan.

She said at the APLS board meeting last month, 32 of the 37 people who spoke before the APLS board “were asking them to stop what they were doing.” She said that Wahl then said he was offended by their criticism.

“That made me clear that his constituents are not from the State of Alabama,” Wright said. “It’s this small group.”

Minton said that the APLS board instituted its policy last year after a lengthy public hearing and reading over 6,475 letters she said were overwhelmingly in favor of the new policies.

“While I appreciate all of the speakers having the right to be heard at every meeting, we are not going to change what we have already set into Alabama code (approved last year) as the public comment period is over for any changes,” she said.

This story was updated at 10:22 a.m. on June 17, 2025, to include comments from APLS board chair John Wahl.