BRADENTON — At Tuesday's meeting, Manatee County Commissioners voted 6-0 to end ties between the American Library Association and the Manatee County Library System. Commissioner James Satcher cited "woke ideology" when he made the motion during the commissioner comments portion of the meeting.
"They've elected a person and have stuck with them as their president, that, these are quotes, 'The consequences of decades of unchecked climate change, class war, white supremacy, and imperialism have led us here. If we want a world that includes public goods like the library, we must organize our collective power and wield it.' That's what she said after elected and more, you know, things, she publicly says she's a Marxist and that does not align with Manatee County taxpayers or this board. So, I'd like to dissolve that relationship and, if at such time, we want to review it because they make a u-turn, that'd be great, but I don't support, I don't believe we should support any type of associations that are pushing woke ideology under the guise of, you know, public good, when all it does is harm people."
The American Library Association is a nonprofit organization that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the world's oldest and largest library association, with 49,705 members as of 2022.
Emily Drabinski was voted president-elect of the ALA in April 2022, when American libraries faced a record number of book ban attempts, with most of the challenged materials having LGBTQ themes. In a now-deleted tweet, Drabinski wrote, "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."
Tammy Parrott, Manatee County Library Services Manager, was in the audience and was asked by Commission Chair Mike Rahn if she would like to weigh in.
Parrott said that the library system pays the organization around $2,500 a year in membership dues, giving the county's libraries access to training programs and discounted materials. She confirmed that the current year's membership expires at the end of May. When asked if she had planned to renew the membership, Parrott said she would take the matter to the library advisory board for input before making a decision.
"As you say, our current president has made some statements that reflect, I think, her personal views, rather than a professional, non-partisan view," Parrot acknowledged. "You know, we've all belonged to organizations that we don't necessarily agree with the path the entire organization is taking, and again, she has a volunteer role, and her term will expire May 31 as well."
Commissioner George Kruse pointed out that the board was making a decision before the advisory board it appointed had an opportunity to weigh in and suggested that might be indicative as to why the county often finds it difficult to secure applicants for such volunteer roles on advisory boards.
During citizen comments, Shannon Keever called the idea that educated library professionals would find themselves "indoctrinated" from a weekend seminar insulting.
"You're acting like these are little children who are going to go off and not be able to think for themselves," said Keever. "That's ridiculous."
"It's very concerning to me that you are talking about leaving the American Library Association based on a president that you don't like who is going to be leaving at the same time that our library association membership is going to be ending," added Keever, who said she felt this was more about the ideology of the commissioners than concern for residents of Manatee County.
The motion passed by commissioners calls for the county to direct staff not to attend any ALA-hosted conferences, not renew the county's membership, and withdraw immediately from the organization until such time that the board is confident that the ALA is no longer "pushing a woke agenda."
