Alabama: Autauga-Prattville Public Library Sued Over Policies Restricting Book Access
UPDATED POST (May 10, 2024): Statement: “EveryLibrary Supports Plaintiffs in Autauga-Prattville Lawsuit Against Discriminatory Library Policies”
—-End Update—-
From the Alabama Reflector
Groups critical of restrictive library policies at the Autauga-Prattville Public Library filed suit Thursday against the library, alleging the policies violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama on behalf of Read Freely Alabama, an organization that has challenged restrictions; the Alabama Library Association and individuals and children who use Autauga-Prattville Public Library.
The lawsuit challenges policies that a newly-installed board of trustees overseeing the library approved in February. The plaintiffs are challenging the “selection criteria” of the policy that board members adopted, and requests the court grant a permanent injunction enjoining the library from enforcing that section of the library board policies.
“They are overbroad,” the complaint says. “They discriminate on the basis of content. And they are vague.”
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More From CBS42.com:
The lawsuit comes weeks after the board fired library director Andrew Foster, as well as several staff members who supported him. Foster had been critical of the board’s policy, which he criticized as censorship.
Over the past session, several bills have been discussed in the Alabama Legislature targeting libraries and what some consider obscene material. One such bill, which passed the Alabama House of Representatives but had not advanced further as of Thursday, would allow librarians to be arrested for the books the libraries have.
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Additional Coverage
- Parents, Advocates File Federal Lawsuit Over Prattville Library Policies (via Montgomery Advertiser)
- Prattville Library Board Sued Over ‘Sledgehammer’ Policy That Restricts LGBTQ Books (via AL.com)
Additional Resources
In Other Alabama Library News
Filed under: Funding, Libraries, News, Public Libraries
About Gary Price
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.
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