Fairhope, Alabama
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| Old Summit St. library. |
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| Inappropriate in 1977? |
1977 CONTROVERSY
Although circumstances are different now, the current controversy about which books should be where in the library is somewhat reminiscent of a similar one many years ago when the appropriateness of 'The Joy of Sex' in the library was being questioned.
Various reports from the time indicate then mayor Jim Nix and city council wanted it removed from the Summit Street library, but the city's library board resisted, citing the American Library Association's right-to-read policy. Other differences like the library's big budget and "philosophical" differences were factors then too, the reports say.
Library board members then were Dorothy Shine, Jason Kutack, Stevi Gaston, H. D. Shepherd, and Robert Mason.
The matter eventually wound up in federal court (twice), where a settlement was reached the first time; but the city ultimately wound up with a mostly-new library board and librarian -- according to available reports from the time. (Another, subsequent federal lawsuit against the city was eventually dismissed.)
Nix spoke at a recent council meeting (September 11, 2023) where the current matter of possibly-inappropriate material in the teen section was being discussed, but did not mention the 1977 incident.
At that time the library was located on Summit Street, on the corner of Magnolia.
An article about the incident was published in the New Yorker magazine in 1979 (click).
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| Claire Oaks was the librarian at the time. |