Kirk Cameron’s “See You at the Library” event that was initially canceled by Huntsville-Madison County Public Library System in Alabama – but then was allowed to proceed at the public library on Saturday – was a huge success, according to multiple media reports.
The event saw a capacity crowd of 225 attend the book-reading event sponsored by the Madison Chapter of the Moms for Liberty.
Parents and their children listened to former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines and Cameron read from their books as part of Brave Books’ “See You at the Library Day,” a national effort at hundreds of libraries across the U.S. to read and share family-friendly content.
It was one of the actor-producer-author’s first stops on his scheduled national tour of more than 260 libraries in 46 states, his publisher BRAVE Books told Fox News.
A crowd of parents and their children await the start of Saturday’s “See You at the Library” event in Madison, Alabama. (Screenshot credit: Jennifer Oliver O’Connell/YouTube)
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A group of protestors tried to enter the Madison library event, but their efforts to disrupt the story hour were thwarted by Huntsville police, according to the outlet.
Great day with @KirkCameron & Riley Gaines, Jared Hudson, Emily Jones and other @RSRuffian friends at “See you at the Library”!! Thank you @BraveBooksUS , @SenPhilWilliams and all! pic.twitter.com/uXNdjNdFFT
— Amy Minton (@mintonfamily123) August 6, 2023
Huntsville’s The Rock Church had offered its facilities after the book-reading event had been canceled at the library. It became a second stop for the event as hundreds more showed up after the event at the Madison library to sing songs, recite the Pledge of Allegiance, hear Gaines speak, and hear Cameron read from his Brave Book title, Pride Comes Before The Fall, according to Red State.
Cameron and Gaines also attended similar events at the Hendersonville Public Library in Hendersonville, TN, and the Taylor Public Library in Taylor, Texas, near Austin.
Library Canceled Event Citing Capacity Concerns
Only three days before the scheduled event, the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library System released a statement Thursday claiming the event was simply too big to be accommodated by its facilities, according to CBN’s Faithwire.
Then, First Liberty Institute attorney Jeremy Dys, who represents Cameron and his publisher Brave Books, fired off a letter Thursday, urging the library to reverse the cancellation.
“Upon learning that Mr. Cameron and his friend and Brave Books author, Riley Gaines, will be attending in person, you abruptly canceled the event citing ‘security concerns’ from a potential protest of Mr. Cameron and claiming the event exceeds the library’s capacity,” Dys wrote in his letter.
The lawyer stated any refusal to overturn the cancellation would be seen as “unlawful and unconstitutional religious viewpoint and content discrimination in violation of the Alabama Constitution and the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.”
Dys sought a reversal of the library’s decision and asked the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library to respond to his letter by Friday at noon.
He said his clients were willing to pursue the issue in court if the cancellation stayed.
“Should you refuse, we are prepared to vindicate this violation of our client’s civil rights in court,” Dys wrote.
As for Cameron, he told CBN’s Faithwire Friday morning why he wouldn’t back down from the fight.
“These libraries should really be grateful that so many parents and children are excited to visit them tomorrow,” he said. “With e-books and other online reading options, sit-down libraries are becoming irrelevant and obsolete to the younger generation.”
Cameron said libraries should capitalize on this family-friendly movement and embrace it. And he wasn’t done there, expressing his belief that biases are at play.
“Too much fear and wokeness has made the ALA and these librarians go mad,” he said. “They are cutting off their nose to spite their face.”
Late Friday afternoon, the library reversed its decision, allowing the event to be held.
In his own statement shared with Fox Digital, Cameron said the agreement between his team and the library was a testimony to “the power of moms and dads gathering in prayer.”
“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,” he said. “Both sides rose to a higher ethic than we often see in today’s polarized society.”
Cameron also said, “By seeking the common good and love for our neighbor, we found a solution … See you at the library!”
In her own statement to Fox, Gaines said, “We’ve seen this before. The library has come up with an excuse to prevent us from sharing wholesome messages to children and their families because they don’t want to be associated with it.”
“I’m happy to say the event now a go again, and we will continue forward with full force! It’s times like this where we must stand our ground as conservatives but more importantly as Christians,” she also said.
The event’s cancellation came after Cameron accused the American Library Association (ALA) of bias. A June 8 virtual ALA meeting purportedly offered up ways libraries could block Cameron and others like him from holding these events.
The resulting debate has led Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN), and Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) to call for an investigation into the ALA and potential “misuse of taxpayer dollars to silence Brave Books,” according to First Liberty.
The remainder of this article is available in its entirety at CBN
