Overview:
Eight books addressing topics like racism and LGBTQIA+ issues must return to the shelves of a rural Texas county library following a federal appeals court decision on Thursday.
Eight books addressing topics like racism and LGBTQIA+ issues must return to the shelves of a rural Texas county library following a federal appeals court decision on Thursday. The Llano County library had removed these books amidst a book-ban controversy.
The decision is a partial win for seven library patrons who sued the Llano County library system and county officials after 17 books were removed in June 2023. The three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled that eight of these books must be returned. One judge agreed with this, another partially agreed but said nine books could remain off the shelves during the appeal, and the third completely disagreed.
The book controversy started in August 2021, when Llano resident Rochelle Wells, together with Eva Carter and Jo Ares, complained to Llano County Judge Ron Cunningham about “pornographic and overtly sexual books in the library’s children’s section.” They were
specifically concerned with several books about “butts and farts.” According to the brief, Wells had been checking out those books continuously for months to prevent others
from accessing them.
In the brief, Amber Milum, the library director, had initially ordered those
books because she thought they were age-appropriate. However, because of the complaints, Judge Cunningham and Commissioner Jerry Don Moss told Milum to remove
the books from the shelves. Those books were removed from both the library shelves and the catalog.
Months later, in response to further complaints, Judge Cunningham directed Milum to immediately pull all books from the shelves that “depict any type of sexual activity or questionable nudity.” That direction came via a forwarded email that Cunningham had received from a constituent named Bonnie Wallace.
Wallace then sent Judge Cunningham a list of books in the Llano County library system that appeared on Texas Representative Matt Krause’s list of objectionable material, referring to the books as “pornographic filth.”By the end of 2021, seventeen books on the Wallace List had been entirely removed from the Llano County library system.
Those books are:
- Seven “butt and fart” books, with titles like I Broke My Butt! and Larry
the Farting Leprechaun; - Four young adult books touching on sexuality and homosexuality,
such as Gabi, a Girl in Pieces; - Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen and Freakboy, both
centering on gender identity and dysphoria; - Caste and They Called Themselves the K.K.K., two books about the
history of racism in the United States; - Well-known picture book, In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak,
which contains cartoon drawings of a naked child; and - It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex and Sexual
Health.
In January 2022, the existing library board was dissolved, and a new board was created Judge Cunningham appointed Wells and Wallace to the new board. The new board implemented several policy changes, including prohibiting Milum from attending their meetings and requiring her to seek approval before purchasing new books.
Judge Jacques Wiener, Jr., who wrote the main opinion, said the books were removed because county officials disagreed with their content. He emphasized that books cannot be removed just because officials dislike their viewpoints. Weiner, nominated by former President George H.W. Bush, joined the court in 1990. He further remarked, “Government actors may not remove books from a public library with the intent to deprive patrons of access to ideas with which they disagree. Because that is apparently what occurred in Llano County…”
Judge Leslie Southwick agreed partially, noting that some books might remain removed as the case proceeds, especially those he described as dealing with “juvenile, flatulent humor” rather than serious issues. Southwick was nominated by former President George G.W. Bush and confirmed in 2007.
Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan dissented completely, criticizing his colleagues for overstepping their judicial roles by making decisions typically reserved for library boards. Duncan was nominated by former President Donald J. Trump and confirmed in 2017.
Effective within twenty-four hours of the issuance of the mandate, the following books were ordered to be publicly visible and accessible shelves of theLlano County Libraries:
- Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent by Isabel Wilkerson;
- Called Themselves the K.K.K: The Birth of an American Terrorist
- Group by Susan Campbell Bartoletti;
- Spinning by Tillie Walden;
- Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen by Jazz Jennings;
- Shine by Lauren Myracle;
- Under the Moon: A Catwoman Tale by Lauren Myracle;
- Gabi, a Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero; and
- Freakboy by Kristin Elizabeth Clark
In addition, after the books were ordered and returned, the Llano County Library Service’s catalogs were to be updated to “reflect that those books are available for checkout.”
The 5th Circuit covers federal courts in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas.
