Did Palin Meddle with the Library?

After Republican presidential nominee John McCain chose little-known Alaska governor Sarah Palin as his running mate, questions surfaced about how Palin as the mayor of Wasilla (pop. 5500)—elected in 1996 with backing from Christian conservatives—treated the Wasilla Public Library (WPL), given her attempts to fire a well-regarded library director and her inquiries about removing books.

At press time, Palin had not spoken publicly on the issue, but supporters and critics have been enormously divided, with the McCain camp pointing out that no books were ever banned and that contemporaneous news coverage both did not mention any books at issue and reported Palin saying that she was trying to familiarize herself with city policy.

The departed director, Mary Ellen Baker, formerly Mary Ellen Emmons, has avoided public comment almost completely, but her defenders include Charlotte Glover, the Alaska chapter councilor for the American Library Association (ALA), who commented on the ALA Council electronic mailing list, “I know the librarian in question, and the entire story may never be told...but it is even worse than you can imagine.”

Baker did tell ABC News that she doesn't recall a conversation with Palin about specific titles. The network reported that the church Palin then attended, the Assembly of God, had tried to get the book Pastor, I Am Gay out of local bookstores, according to its author, Howard Bess, a pastor of the Church of the Covenant in the nearby town of Palmer. Two copies donated by Bess to WPL disappeared, leading him to donate more copies. Former Frontiersman reporter Paul Stuart told PolitiFact that Baker had mentioned two titles, one of them Pastor, I Am Gay, though he initially got the names wrong.

As reported at the time by the Frontiersman, the director “drew a clear distinction...between the nature of Palin's inquiries and an established book-challenge policy in place in Wasilla, and in most public libraries.”

One resident, Anne Kilkenny, has also claimed that Palin tried to fire the library director over the censorship issue, but no corroboration has emerged. Baker had supported the incumbent mayor; Palin initially tried to dismiss her; then, after locals protested, rescinded the move.

On September 14, the New York Times advanced the story, reporting that, in 1995, then Council member Palin expressed dismay about the book Daddy's Roommate, a children's book about understanding homosexuality, and said it didn't belong in the library. Laura Chase, Palin's first campaign manager, said she suggested that Palin read the book, but Palin refused.

The Washington Post reported that while some residents wanted the city to replace “the cramped library,” Palin instead focused on building a hockey rink, which voters narrowly approved.

Among the large volume of blog posts and mailing list comments was a widely circulated list of books Palin allegedly banned from the library—a list soon found to be bogus.

Comments like Glover's on the ALA Council list, however, caused ALA officials to warn that ALA could jeopardize its tax-exempt status by allowing its resources to be used to support or oppose a candidate for public office.

Soon, a new forum was created under the auspices of the ALA-APA (Allied Professional Association). ALA, apparently guided by what some internal critics called excessive caution, issued a generic statement about censorship under the misleading subject line, “ALA releases statement on Alaska book banning controversy.”