The public library in Fairhope, Alabama — a picturesque city on the shores of Mobile Bay — has found itself in the crosshairs of battles over library content.

The Alabama Public Library Service Board of Trustees voted Thursday to withhold state funding from the Fairhope Public Library after complaints from conservative parents about books in the teen section. In the same meeting, the board voted to immediately dismiss the executive director of the state library agency, who had been planning to resign.

Board Chairman John Wahl, who is also the chair of the Alabama Republican Party, said board members believe the Fairhope library is in violation of state policies to protect children from inappropriate materials. The books cited by the upset parents included “Sold,” a National Book Award finalist about a girl who is sold into sexual slavery in India.

The actions come amid a broader national culture war over library content and programs and a surging number of challenges to books on library shelves. The American Library Association’s list of the most-challenged books of 2023 included many with LGBTQIA+ or sexual content.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/22/us/alabama-library-defunded-book-bans-hnk/index.html