Former U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-Mountain Brook), who is running to be Alabama’s next governor, is apparently on a warpath against members of the state’s library board who say they are simply protecting children from being exposed to explicit materials.
During an extended livestream this week entitled “Doug Unplugged,” Jones promised to “get rid of a few people” on the Alabama Public Library Service Board.
The board recently voted to continue withholding state funding from the Fairhope Public Library by a 3-2 vote.
They cited the library’s continued refusal to remove sexually explicit materials from children’s sections, despite repeated warnings and opportunities to correct the issue.
Jones thinks the recent APLS decisions are an attack on free speech in the Yellowhammer State.
“Well, I got to tell you, Jennifer, that buck stops and stops and starts with the governor of the state, and it will go down from that, and you will see in my administration that the governor will be a champion of public libraries, a champion of free speech, a champion of making sure libraries are free and have access to a lot of information. You are absolutely right. libraries,” Jones argued on his X livestream. “So like so many of our freedom of Speech rights, freedom of the press rights have been under siege in the last couple of years, particularly in Alabama when it comes to libraries.”
APLS Board Chairman John Wahl and Governor Kay Ivey began working together in 2023 years to make sure libraries remove explicit material from the children’s sections.
Jones said that would all change if he wins the state’s gubernatorial bid this year.
“So the governor can do a couple of things,” Jones explained. “The first thing that I can tell you I would do is I’d get rid of a few people on that that library board, and have some people with some common sense and not some crazy political agenda that we see constantly, and so that they can work with public libraries to make sure that folks have access to information.”
The former senator suggested he has a monopoly on better ideas for how the situation should be handled.
“Look and I understand that there are concerns about some books that are maybe inappropriate for young kids, that’s those can be remedied without removing them,” Jones said.
“Those things can be fixed without trying to ban books and do the kind of things that we’ve seen happening. Those things can be worked on with people to try to do the things that are the right things for that community, and libraries should answer to their communities, no question about that.”
Jones is still a longshot to become the next governor. According to a memo from Cygnal, one of the nation’s top polling firms, Tuberville leads Jones 53% to 34% among likely 2026 general election voters.
Party primary elections will be held on May 19, 2026, and general election, the likely venue of a Tuberville vs. Jones rematch, will be held on November 3, 2026.
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on X @Yaffee.
