Alabama Public Library Service Chair John Wahl, left, and board member Ron Snider have a conversation before the APLS meeting on Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025. APLS will hire someone to help libraries comply with the administrative code changes that were finalized in Februrary. (Ralph Chapoco/Alabama Reflector)
The Alabama Public Library Service Board will hire a person to assist libraries as they try to comply with new content restrictions imposed by the board in the past couple of years.
APLS board members voted during a Thursday meeting to advertise the position.
“We want to create a position to make sure we have the resources to support our local libraries,” said John Wahl, chair of the APLS Board, in an interview with reporters following the meeting. “We especially want this position to be a resource for local libraries when it comes to the new code changes, if there are any questions, any confusion, they have someone they can ask, get clear guidance, where they don’t have the information directly from APLS.”
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Kelyn Ralya, director of APLS, will create the job description, accept and interview applicants, and recommend a person for the Board to vote on by the time of the next Board meeting in May.
APLS staff told members of the APLS Board at Wednesday’s meeting that they can appoint someone to the post at their discretion, even to the point of not publicizing the position, but they decided to advertise the posting and let people apply.
One of the assistant director’s main duties will be to support local libraries after several criticized the Board for not issuing any guidance or providing directions to ensure that their policies align with a set of administrative code changes in 2024.
Those changes required libraries to establish policies to restrict minors from what the board deems obscene, sexually explicit, or otherwise inappropriate materials. Libraries also had to obtain advanced permission from the local library governing board before placing displays or advertisements of library content targeted to minors or working with the American Library Association.
The Board last year also voted to restrict content for minors with “gender ideology,” a term the board has not defined.
Local libraries have complained that the administrative code changes were vague and difficult to understand, particularly the definition of sexually explicit. Wahl sent out an email to local libraries that took language from the state’s criminal code that defines adult bookstores and movie houses. It includes material that contains sexual intercourse between people of the same or opposite genders, sexual excitement and nudity.
Despite that, libraries have said that it is still difficult to comply with the changes to the state’s administrative code because reviewing library content and evaluating them against the updated administrative code can be subjective.
According to a survey conducted by the Alabama Library Association, most libraries who responded said that APLS had approved their policies when they submitted them after the first set of administrative code changes were finalized.
Libraries have until September to submit their policies and have them approved by APLS or risk losing their state aid.
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Author: Ralph Chapoco