The Alabama Public Library Services Board plans to address some thorny issues surrounding libraries at its Tuesday, Jan. 30, meeting.

The topic was a discussion about the blacklist, which currently includes books targeted by groups such as Clean Up Alabama, as well as Christian and right-wing books that are clearly objected to by anti-establishment groups. A total of 82 separate titles have been accumulated. The agenda specifically includes discussion of a letter sent to APLS by local author Tim Lockett and Alabama Supreme Court nominee Brian Taylor requesting a copy of the list, as well as Chief Justice Nancy Pack's response letter. There is.

Topics include a discussion of list statistics and a survey of book challenges in Alabama's libraries.

The board also has an agenda to honor Virginia Doyle, who Gov. Kay Ivey removed from the board after she questioned threats to the agency's budget.

It also has been more than 90 days since the board asked Attorney General Steve Marshall for an opinion on what authority the agency has over local library policy. The AG's office typically requires him to have a 90-day period to submit an opinion, so the board may get an answer at a meeting.

The board will also consider Senate Bill 10 by state Sen. Chris Elliott (R-Josephine), which would give local governments the power to fire library board members. That authority is currently not uniform across the state, and Elliott said he received questions about how directors are removed.

The board will also discuss a letter to Emily Drabinsky, the current president of the American Library Association. Drabinsky's comments, in which she identified herself as a “Marxist lesbian,” have been used to claim that ALA is imposing communist policies on children. Pack previously said she wanted to send a letter condemning Drabinsky's comments and the disruption they caused at the library.

The meeting begins at 10 a.m. at the APLS office, 6030 Monticello Dr. in Montgomery.