There’s good news out of Texas today.
The federal district court in Austin, TX has issued a preliminary injunction ordering the Llano County government and library board to return books removed from the public library’s collection due to some library users and county residents and officials complaints about objectionable content. Noting that many of the removed books were well-regarded, prize-winning books, the court also ordered the defendants to list the books as available for checkout in the library’s catalog and refrain from removing any books from the library for the pendency of the lawsuit.
The American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) and the Freedom to Read Foundation supported the patrons and staff fighting the book bans as they prepared to challenge the bans in federal court.
Among the books to be returned to the library shelves are Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent by Isabel Wilkerson; In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak; It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex and Sexual Health by Robie Harris; My Butt is So Noisy!, I Broke My Butt!, and I Need a New Butt! by Dawn McMillan; Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen by Jazz Jennings; Shine by Lauren Myracle; and Gabi, a Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero.
Read more and find the court’s full opinion on the OIF blog.
