OZARK, Ala. — A meeting Wednesday over a call for the Ozark-Dale County public library in Alabama to remove books with LGBTQ characters and themes drew over 100 people and led to fierce arguments over parental rights and censorship.
The meeting came after the library received complaints about two books in the library’s young adult section from Dale County Commissioner Adam Enfinger, who did not speak at Wednesday’s meeting. But Ozark Mayor Mark Blankenship, who has campaigned on the issue on his Facebook page, said at the meeting he had requested the books be removed months ago, and he did not believe that he had to do anything else.
“I’m telling you, it is terrible when you read this stuff, and we do not need them in this library,” he said.
The official reason for the meeting was to discuss the library’s process of reviewing books. The library had received two official complaints from Enfinger. But the crowd was also discussing public social media posts from the mayor that focused on LGBTQ+ books in the young adult section.