For four weeks, 10 people pulled children’s books from library shelves in Ozark and checked each title for explicit content.
It took a month for library staff to review about 8,000 children’s and young adult books and make sure they complied with new guidelines from the Alabama Public Library Service. During that time, the library was closed to the public, save for one room left available as a cooling station. It reopens Tuesday.
“My eyes hurt. My head hurts,” said library director Karen Speck. “My brain is tired of looking through books and everybody, the whole staff, is feeling the same way.”
Ozark Dale County Library was one of about 10 libraries caught up in a yearlong controversy about Alabama libraries. In 2023, Mayor Mark Blankenship called for the removal of all LGBTQ books from the library, calling them “terrible.” At a subsequent local meeting, community members on both sides of the issue were in an uproar.
Across the state, people pored over library shelves or reviewed online lists and complained about books they deemed inappropriate – mainly books with LGBTQ characters or people of color. Gov. Kay Ivey mandated that libraries ensure that no books with “inappropriate content” are available to minors or risk losing state funding.
Speck felt she had to close her library indefinitely in order to figure out how to follow the state’s new rules.
“I made the decision to close to be proactive,” said Speck, who guessed that the library typically gets 140 to 160 visitors on a given day.
During the closure, each work day, staffers had a sheet with different sections: young adult or juvenile fiction, nonfiction, biography and Easy Reader books.
One by one, librarians removed books from the shelf, placed them on a cart and checked up to eight different websites. They looked for online reviews or complaints about sexually explicit or inappropriate content for each book’s age range.
Once a staffer completed a book review, the book was stamped and marked for reshelving.
Speck’s staff found no books in the library’s collection with obscene, sexually explicit or other materials deemed inappropriate for minors.
“I just think that this whole process has been very stressful though,” Speck said. “The overall stress level is pretty bad.”
Approximately 70 books lacked sufficient reviews online that would allow staff to assess their content. Speck and her administrative assistant, Joni Wood, will conduct an additional review process.
Some books were removed or deleted from the system due to damage or because they had been missing or overdue for six months or more. Librarians and staff reclassified “young adult” books as “teen” to remove confusion about the appropriate age for specific books.
Speck said her patrons and community members expressed mixed feelings about the closure. She heard from the mayor recently, who said citizens were wondering when the library would reopen. At one point, county commission members stopped by to see how the process was going.
“Some people are not happy because they do rely on the library,” Speck said. “Then there are others who feel bad that we have to go through this.” She said patrons’ emotions ranged from saddened to upset about the “nightmare” library staff endured.
Speck’s biggest concern was that someone would come across a book and wonder why it was on the shelf. She wanted the opportunity to go through the books to ensure compliance.
Speck said she is “ready to reopen and get back to normal.”
“I miss our people, our patrons,” she said. “All in all, I think people will be happy that we did this.”
Speck is looking forward to a much-needed vacation. Now that she’s gotten to know the library collection more intimately, she’s found several books she wants to read.
