Report: Alabama Senate Approves Bill Allowing Firings Of Library Board Members

Media Roundup

Alabama Library Board Members Can Be Removed Without Cause Under Senate-Approved Bill (via AL.com)

The Alabama State Senate on Tuesday passed a bill allowing local officials to remove library board members without cause.

The bill was approved with 26 ayes, four nays and one abstention after discussion from Democrats who opposed the bill.

Sen. Chris Elliott’s bill allows library board members to be removed without cause with a two-thirds majority of the appointing body, usually city councils or county commissioners.

Sen. Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro, opposed the bill. He said it is dangerous for the state government to continue to politicize libraries and to punish people who are volunteering.

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The bill now moves to the House.

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Alabama Senate Approves Bill Allowing Firings of Library Board Members (via Alabama Reflector)

The bill comes as conservatives and right-wing organizations in Alabama continue to target library books, particularly those with LGBTQ+ themes. The Alabama Public Library Service Board last year approved a ban on books with “gender ideology,” a broad term it does not define. In January, the board voted to withhold state funds from the Fairhope Public Library over the placement of books like “The Handmaid’s Tale” in a teen section.

Elliott first introduced the bill in 2024, where it got out of a House committee but did not come to a vote. A similar bill filed last year passed the Senate but did not come to a House vote.

Discussion on the bill lasted about two hours between Elliott; Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro; Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, and Sen. Vivian Davis Figures, D-Mobile. The bill does not require a governing authority to have a reason to remove a member of a local library board, which sparked Democrats’ arguments.

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Bill Allowing Removal of Library Board Members Advances Out of the Senate (via ALPR)

Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, questioned whether the bill would make librarians and board members uneasy, particularly amid recent controversies over books and library materials.

Elliott said he does not believe librarians should be concerned, telling Smitherman that elected officials who appoint board members are more familiar with the needs and values of their communities than state lawmakers.

Elliott said the bill ensures library boards remain accountable to the appointing authority that created them, “instead of legislating from the State House about how each one of these boards ought to operate.”

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