Citrus may join national exodus from ALA

By John Labriola - Citrus County appears poised to become the first in Florida to join a nationwide movement of counties cutting ties with the American Library Association (ALA) over the organization's aggressive promotion of "drag queen story hours" and sexually explicit LGBT materials targeting children.

The Citrus County Library Advisory Board (LAB) on Tuesday voted 5-1 to recommend that the county cancel the annual ALA membership dues it has been paying since the library system's inception. 

"It has nothing to do with anybody's lifestyle. It has to do with protecting children from very bad choices and porn content, frankly," said LAB member Elaine Kleid, whose motion to discontinue ALA dues was backed by board members Edith Ramlow, Justin Strickland, Lorraine Benefield and Shavonna Reid. LAB member Ken Jones voted no, while board members April McLaughlin and Neale Brennan were absent. 

Ramlow, a College of Central Florida librarian, said the ALA's purported membership benefits, such as access to discounted employee handbooks and information on federal grants, can be obtained in other ways.

The advisory board's vote came after more than 30 residents showed up to call for defunding the ALA. Several cited the ALA's efforts to fight parents who seek removal of pornographic books from children's sections, while others pointed to radical remarks by current ALA president Emily Drabinski, a self-declared "Marxist lesbian" who has a long track record of advocating for the "queering" of public libraries. 

The ALA's website devotes an entire page to resource links and "toolkits" on how librarians can organize drag queen story hours for children and push back against residents who object. 

"Sodom and Gomorrah is here knocking at our door. Lock our doors! Protect our children!" said Barbie Ocasio of Citrus Springs. 

Joe Papp, an 18-year resident of Citrus County, said the county needs to take a stand against the radical agenda the ALA represents before it takes over as it has in other parts of the country. 

"We can't let them get a foothold in our community. That affects our children. That affects the whole temperament of this community," he said. "Little things...turn into big things and once they do, you can't stop it. Let's stop it now before it gets to that point."

The Citrus County Commission will have the last word on the issue at their upcoming September budget hearing, but a majority of commissioners have told local media they plan to support the LAB's recommendation to not renew ALA dues.

Sen. Marco Rubio recently called for halting federal funds to the ALA and has demanded an investigation into how the organization tried to block family-friendly story hours by Christian children's author and actor Kirk Cameron while simultaneously promoting drag queen storytelling. 

If county commissioners uphold the LAB's decision, it could trigger other Florida counties to join the growing number of communities and state library commissions across the U.S. that have dropped ALA membership, including Campbell County, Wyo., Midland County, Tex., and the Montana and Texas state library commissions. 

Residents can make their voices heard on the issue at the commission's budget hearing on Thursday, Sept. 7, at 5 p.m. in the Citrus County Courthouse, 110 N. Apopka Ave., Inverness, FL 34450.  Those unable to attend the hearing can contact commissioners at the email addresses below:

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