{"id":5388,"date":"2024-02-15T20:32:03","date_gmt":"2024-02-15T20:32:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/?p=5388"},"modified":"2024-02-15T20:32:07","modified_gmt":"2024-02-15T20:32:07","slug":"dean-of-libraries-discusses-alabamas-library-controversy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/2024\/02\/15\/dean-of-libraries-discusses-alabamas-library-controversy\/","title":{"rendered":"Dean of Libraries discusses Alabama\u2019s library controversy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">TROY, Ala. (<a href=\"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">TROJANVISION<\/a>) \u2014 Recently, an Alabama organization made a decision that could change the trajectory of Alabama public libraries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/aplsws2.apls.state.al.us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Alabama Public Library Service<\/a> (APLS) has decided not to renew Alabama\u2019s American Association (ALA) membership. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Troy University&#8217;s Dean of Libraries Dr. Christopher Shaffer believes the APLS\u2019 decision was not the best choice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s a really good idea, but I\u2019m not sure that it changes much of anything,\u201d Shaffer said. \u201cI think it\u2019s political maneuvering, and I don\u2019t think the public really understands the ALA, nor should they. It\u2019s not something that should really come into the consciousness on a regular basis.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to Shaffer, the scrutiny over books in public libraries could lead to negative results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf we try as a nation, as a community, to start telling everybody, \u2018well, you can\u2019t read this, you can\u2019t read that,\u2019 it\u2019s going to be an empty building. If you don\u2019t like a book, don\u2019t read it.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/2023\/09\/12\/two-books-in-question-at-the-ozark-dale-county-library\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Controversy surrounds children\u2019s books at Ozark-Dale County Library<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For those wondering is Alabama\u2019s decision is going to affect Troy University\u2019s library, Shaffer says it will not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMost of our librarians are members of the ALA. It is a requirement, not by Troy University, but from our accrediting bodies that our libraries are educated by ALA accredited schools,\u201d Shaffer explained. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last year, Governor Kay Ivey asked the APLS to not renew Alabama\u2019s ALA membership. However, at this time, public libraries are still able to publicly renew their ALA memberships. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In November 2023, the APLS planned to vote on the decision but it was postponed. Now, the APLS is revisiting the final vote. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A public hearing is scheduled to take place in Montgomery in April. Alabamians will be able to have their voices heard. The APLS\u2019 official vote will take place after the public hearing.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>TROY, Ala. (TROJANVISION) \u2014 Recently, an Alabama organization made a decision that could change the trajectory of Alabama public libraries. <\/p>\n<p>The Alabama Public Library Service (APLS) has decided not to renew Alabama\u2019s American Association (ALA) membership. <\/p>\n<p>Troy University&#8217;s Dean of Libraries Dr. Christopher Shaffer believes the APLS\u2019 decision was not the best choice&#8230;.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"a-button\" href=\"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/2024\/02\/15\/dean-of-libraries-discusses-alabamas-library-controversy\/\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":5390,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1126],"tags":[1423,302],"topics":[1123,17],"class_list":["post-5388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-state-news","tag-alabama-libraries","tag-troy-university-library","topics-state-news","topics-troy-campus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5388"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5388\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5388"},{"taxonomy":"topics","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topics?post=5388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}