John Wahl, the chairman of the Alabama Republican Party, speaks before a fundraiser for the party on Aug. 4, 2023. Wahl is now also chair of the APLS. (Stew Milne for Alabama Reflector)
The chair of the Alabama Republican Party is now the chair of the Alabama Public Library Service Board.
John Wahl, who has been chair of the party since 2021, became chair of the APLS Thursday.
“I hope that I will be known for someone who encourages reading and a love for reading and being a public servant that tries to listen to the people of Alabama and do a good job,” he said in a Thursday phone call.
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Wahl has served on the board since 2022 and cited former state Republican chair Elbert Peters serving on the APLS board before him. J. Elbert Peters was listed as the District 5 member before Wahl in a May 2022 Wayback Machine screenshot.
According to an Al.com obituary, Peters was Republican chair from 1992-1995.
“This is not something that is new or unusual,” he said. “A lot of political boards have partisan positions appointed to them.”
The appointment of Wahl, an outspoken advocate of restrictions on library content approved by the APLS earlier this year, drew criticism.
Wahl, in his role on the board of directors, proposed a policy of cataloging potentially inappropriate books. He also supported a proposal from Gov. Kay Ivey for libraries to lose state funding if they do not adopt policies restricting sexually explicit materials, as deemed by the board.
Critics have said those policies are vague and target books with LGBTQ+ characters and themes. In Prattville, a group that became Clean Up Alabama, which supports book restrictions, grew out of a parent’s complaint that a book in that library used inclusive pronouns.
Messages were left with a member of Clean Up Alabama on Thursday.
In a statement Thursday, Read Freely Alabama, an activist group opposed to censorship in libraries that formed in opposition to Clean Up Alabama, called Wahl an “anti-library extremist” whose positions are “dangerous to Alabamians’ First Amendment rights and the public library’s mission of intellectual freedom.”
“For the past year, Mr. Wahl abused his position as Alabama GOP chair and APLS board member to collude with extremist groups Moms For Liberty and Clean Up Alabama in attacking libraries for books about LGBTQ communities and racial justice, as well as books written by Black and Indigenous authors in Alabama,” the statement said.
Wahl said Thursday that his intent with the policies was not intended to be read as code for LGBTQ+ content and does not mention LGBTQ+, and is meant to be content similarly left out of video games, TV and movies.
“I do not see the policy changes being aimed or directed at any community, and I certainly am sorry if anyone takes it that way, because I don’t think the wording improves that, and it was definitely not my intent, with my part in pushing for those, advocating for those changes,” he said.
He said he thinks his role as GOP chair will make him more of an asset to APLS to secure funding for local libraries, working with the Legislature and “whatever may come up in the political realm.”
“A good board is made up of people from many different backgrounds,” he said.
Wahl also said he thinks young people don’t read as much as they have in the past.
“I want to take the APLS board in a direction that is new, innovative, and really seeks to be able to connect with young people across Alabama and help foster an environment where they love reading, and are able to really get involved with local libraries and learn to love books,” he said.
Two examples he provided would be the Board having “action days” where they bring books and read to students at school and tell them why reading is wonderful and expand their horizons; and having a writing contest that local libraries can participate in where winners from each district can be recognized by APLS.
“I really feel like the APLS board has done a good job listening to the public on the issue of the sexually-explicit material in children’s sections. We address concerns of parents and citizens across the state, and I really want the APLS to focus on new directions of reaching out to people and helping local libraries be more successful with their local communities,” he said.
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