It appears the American Library Association’s suppression has long arms, even in deep Red Alabama. As RedState reported, Brave Books and Kirk Cameron’s See You at the Library Event is in full swing and ready to pop off on Saturday, August 5.
Over 268 libraries across 45 states will hold Story Hours, where they read from the Brave Books series of children’s books or books of virtue. In my exclusive with Cameron, he stated that he would be flying around the country to attend three of the library events; one of those locations is in the Madison/Huntsville area in Northern Alabama.
CAMERON: So someone who’s in full support of See You at the Library has donated their private airplane, and I will be traveling to three libraries on Saturday in three different states all in one day. So, we’re going to be at a library in Tennessee, then go to Alabama, and then go to Texas, and I’m going to surprise some of the people who are putting these events on at these libraries and in each of these locations. Not only will I be there, but we’re going to have a special surprise guest.
Who’s coming with me?
It was reported that the scheduled special guest is athlete and women’s sports activist Riley Gaines. The Madison-Huntsville Library event was to be hosted by the local chapter of Moms for Liberty, and they were more than excited to have this special visit from Cameron and Gaines.
The Madison-Huntsville Library administrators, not so much. They sent Brave Books and Moms for Liberty notice on Wednesday that they were canceling the event.
The Madison Public Library in Huntsville, Alabama, canceled its participation in the “See You at the Library” event set to be hosted by Moms for Liberty this Saturday. It is part of Cameron and Brave Books’s national event, which has touted nearly 270 libraries’ participation across 45 states.
The Madison Public Library announced they would no longer be able to host the event, citing concerns over the expected number of attendees. It said after exploring options with city officials, the event would need to be moved to an alternate location.
“The City of Madison applies permitting regulations for outside events equally to all groups and organizations. While the initially planned event was suited for the Madison Library’s capacity, the scope of attendees quickly grew,” the City of Madison said in a statement. “The Moms for Liberty group failed to apply for an event permit in advance, and it was determined that City resources cannot support an event of this size on such short notice. Alternative accommodations have been recommended to the organization to ensure a safe and well attended event.”
According to other reporting, First Liberty Institute, the law firm representing Brave Books, said the library room had been reserved for 250 people to attend the Brave Books event. So, this last-minute cancelation could be construed as discrimination and a violation of Cameron’s and Brave Books First Amendment rights. A Madison/Huntsville resident tweeted a picture of signage at the Madison-Huntsville Library that shows one room’s capacity as 361.
Capacity sign posted at the Madison City Library. These are the rooms M4L has reserved for Saturday's event. @MadisonAlabama @KirkCameron @Riley_Gaines_ @TheDaleJackson pic.twitter.com/eL5kRLXcIN
— Sheila Banister (@sheila4alhouse) August 4, 2023
Brave Books CEO Trent Talbot, First Liberty Institute, and Cameron have all said they plan to show up and do business as usual.
Brave Books CEO Trent Talbot told the Washington Examiner that they plan to still show up at the Madison Public Library on Saturday.
“We have been traveling the country for nine months now, putting on wholesome story hours at public libraries all across the country. At each library, we have had more people show up than the capacity of the room we reserved,” Talbot said. “We have handled the line of people the same way throughout. … We allow the correct amount of people in the room for the story hour while containing the line of people outside in an appropriate way.”
The Madison Public Library using capacity constraints as the reason for ‘canceling’ this event makes absolutely no sense and is putting them in legal jeopardy,” Talbot added. “We are expecting the library to come to its senses for tomorrow’s story hour, and we plan on showing up tomorrow morning at 10 a.m.”
The law firm representing Brave Books, First Liberty Institute, responded to the cancellation with a letter on Thursday, which the Washington Examiner obtained, noting that should it continue with the cancellation, it “will have engaged in unlawful and unconstitutional religious viewpoint and content discrimination in violation of the Alabama Constitution and the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.”
First Liberty Institute said that if the event was not reinstated, the law firm was “prepared to vindicate this violation of our client’s civil rights in court.”
Lo and behold, on Friday, the Madison-Huntsville Public Library suddenly reversed its decision. It is now welcoming the See You at the Library Event as originally planned.
A library in Alabama has reversed its decision from earlier this week to cancel a book reading event.
It will now indeed welcome actor Kirk Cameron and his publisher, Brave Books, on Saturday, August 5, for the nationwide “See You at the Library” event.
The Huntsville-Madison County Public Library System in Huntsville, Alabama, had said in a release on Wednesday afternoon that it would no longer accommodate the book reading event due to concerns about logistics and security as popularity for the event grew this week.
Now, after law firm First Liberty Institute sent a letter to the library system saying it was “prepared to vindicate this violation of our client’s civil rights in court,” the library system has reversed course, Fox News Digital was told on Friday afternoon.
I believe this reconciliation between us and the Madison Public Library is a testimony to the strength and power of moms and dads gathering in prayer for the blessing of their community. Both sides rose to a higher ethic than we often see in today’s polarized society. By seeking… https://t.co/7oIvlFD1Ki
— Kirk Cameron (@KirkCameron) August 4, 2023
There were also reports of protests, including a counter-protest by a TikTok user named Lindsay, who posts under the name BHamBlueDot. According to her video, Lindsay is asking all to meet her across from the library so she can pass out copies of Jesus and John Wayne: Lindsay also encouraged teachers to come to receive the book All Are Welcome, a children’s book that encourages diversity and inclusion. Lindsay alleges in the video that, “We don’t want to match their hateful energy; we want to be there to support teachers and librarians.” She encouraged people to bring signs that say something nice like, “We support teachers” or “Moms for Literature.”
Okay…
The details: https://t.co/cJESMxdz14
— Kristin Du Mez (@kkdumez) August 2, 2023
Since I relocated to the state, I thought life might be a little slow, but apparently, I was wrong! There will be lots popping off on Saturday, and I plan to be there to cover what transpires.
Stay tuned.
