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Sen. Elliott relaunches effort to change Archives, libraries’ oversight

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A pair of bills that would allow for appointing authorities to remove members of library boards across the state, as well as the Board of Trustees of the Department of Archives and History, is set to return to the Legislature in 2025 after failing to become law this year.

Senate Bills 6 and 5, were pre-filled recently by Sen. Chris Elliott, R-Josephine, and would allow for members of library boards and Archives, respectively, to be removed from their positions by their original appointing authority, be it state lawmakers or local city or county leaders.

“It really increases local control over those libraries,” Elliott told Alabama Daily News regarding SB6.

“There’s a lot of drama and conversations around libraries right now, and I think the simplest thing to do is to let those appointing authorities — be it city council or county commissioners — make the decision of what’s appropriate for their particular community.”

The Alabama Public Library Service has faced increased scrutiny from Republican state lawmakers in recent years regarding the availability of explicit and gendered content in libraries, as well as its previous membership with the American Library Association, which has been accused of promoting explicit and gender ideology-based reading material to children.

While it ultimately voted to cut ties with the ALA in January, the APLS still saw its funding cut by 8.5% in the 2025 budget lawmakers adopted earlier this year, as well as the removal of one of its board members, Virginia Doyle, after she publicly criticized lawmakers for threatening to cut funding.

Rather than pursue legislation to curate what content should and shouldn’t be permitted in children’s sections of libraries, Elliott argued that the simplest approach was to increase accountability for library board members by allowing them to be removed by elected officials.

“What I’m trying to do is make sure that there is very clear accountability back to the elected official, which makes sure that there is accountability back to the people in that particular community,” Elliott said.

Nancy Pack, the director of the Alabama Public Library Services, which oversees Alabama’s public library system, expressed concern regarding Elliott’s bill and told ADN Tuesday that she felt the rule change could hinder a board’s ability to function effectively.

“As the APLS director who has worked with library boards, I believe that the best practice is for the board chair to remove a board member based on the by-laws of the specific board,” Pack said in a written statement to ADN.

“Governing bodies appoint board members to represent the demographics of the community. If a new mayor or judge wants to make an appointment to the board, they should wait until the current member’s term ends before proceeding. Serving on a board requires collaboration and decision making without the threat of removal for expressing one’s opinion, as this can hinder the Board’s ability to function effectively.”

Both bills were first introduced last year but failed to make it across the finish line, something Elliott chalked up to lawmakers’ focus on the ill-fated gambling legislation

Regarding SB5, Elliott said that he had filed the bill in response to, at least in part, an LGBT lecture hosted last year by the Archives Department that he and around a dozen other lawmakers had asked the agency to cancel.

“That certainly may have been a catalyst, but in having conversations with the executive director of the Archives Board, it became very clear that this board simply doesn’t have to listen to the Legislature, doesn’t have to listen to appointing authorities because they’re simply self appointing,” Elliott said. 

“So while that may have been something that got our attention, it really underscored the point that those boards need to be accountable to elected officials to be accountable back to the people.”

In a written statement, Mary Taylor, communications director for the Archives Department, pointed to its board’s 123-year history of being governed by existing law, highlighting the positive feedback the agency has received over the years.

“The governance structure of the Archives has worked well for 123 years, and today it provides oversight for our ongoing service to students, educators, genealogists, state and local governments, and general museum visitors,” the statement said.

“A high degree of public trust in the agency can be seen in the positive feedback received from our audiences and in the generosity of donors who share their family treasures with the ADAH for the benefit of current and future generations.”

In addition to allowing the appointing authorities to remove members of the Archives Board, SB5 would also increase the board’s size to 19 members, including the governor or his or her designee.

The 2025 legislative session begins in February.

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