Alabama Public Library Service Votes To Create A List Of Books To Potentially Ban

The Alabama Public Library Service voted Wednesday to create a list of books that it considers inappropriate for children.

The new list, which was voted for unanimously by the seven-member board, will be curated by parents, CBS 42 reported. The list will be made available online, and individual local libraries will decide whether or not to remove the books since the state agency does not have the authority to outright ban books from libraries.

“Parents still have access to it if they want to buy this for their children,” John Wahl, a board member and the chairman of the Alabama Republican Party, told WSFA. “But we don’t want to have it in libraries where innocent children can stumble upon it.”

It’s the latest escalation in right-wing attacks on public libraries, where conservative groups have used LGBTQ+ content as a boogeyman to ban books. Attempted book bans and restrictions at schools and public libraries set a new record in 2022.

A March report from the American Library Association showed there had been more than 1,200 challenges to books across the U.S.

Deborah Caldwell-Stone of the ALA told The Associated Press she had “never seen anything like this.”

“The last two years have been exhausting, frightening, outrage inducing,” she said.

A timeline hasn’t been set on when the Alabama book list will be completed.