Chicago City Wire

Florida has become the latest conservative-leaning state to sever ties with the American Library Association (ALA), a 150-year-old Chicago-based organization. The decision comes as part of an ongoing cultural debate over the types of books that should be available to students. In Oct., the Florida Department of State introduced a rule prohibiting any grant activities linked to the ALA. 

The controversy stems, in part, from the ALA’s choice of a new president, Emily Drabinski, who had previously identified as a “Marxist,” as well as the association’s library bill of rights opposing efforts to restrict access to books based on age, particularly surrounding sexuality, gender, and race. According to a memo from the Florida Library Association, state authorities indicated they were concerned about how the taxpayer funds were being used by the ALA.

"The decision is in response to the scrutiny related to the use of public funds to support these organizations.", the FLA noted state officials saying on the memo.

This development mirrors actions by several other Republican-led states such as Alabama, Wyoming, Missouri, and Texas. Numerous counties within Florida have already terminated their ALA memberships, expressing concerns about the organization’s impact on children’s reading materials.

Earlier this year, the Illinois Freedom Caucus urged local libraries to separate from ALA following its appointment of Drabinski. The caucus asserted that Drabinski would use her influence to advocate extreme ideologies, causing them to advocate for disassociation from ALA and its purported shift towards a “woke agenda”. 

"I just cannot believe that a Marxist lesbian who believes that collective power is possible to build and can be wielded for a better world is the president-elect of @ALALibrary.", Drabinski stated on X, formerly Twitter after accepting the position.

In contrast, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed legislation in June in response to increasing attempts to restrict or remove certain books thus making them less accessible for children. The bill HB2789 mandates the adoption of ALA's Library Bill of Rights and limits grants to libraries seeking the removal of such materials.

Libs of TikTok criticized Pritzker for signing this anti-book-banning bill into law alleging it exposes children to explicit content. Chaya Raichik, operator of Libs TikTok raised concerns about graphic content present in some books endorsed by this law such as “Gender Queer”, which includes explicit imagery and was one of 2022's most challenged books by parents. HB2789 requires Illinois libraries to follow ALA's Library Bill of Rights which discourages the removal of such books from library collections.