Mar 31
Luanne James said as a librarian she had an obligation to protect the public’s right to access information
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Luanne James said as a librarian she had an obligation to protect the public’s right to access information
Rutherford County library director Luanne James’s stand against a vote to relocate more than 190 titles draws national support as the board
Christopher Wiggins at The Advocate:
A Tennessee library director is drawing national support after refusing to relocate LGBTQ+ children’s books, citing the First Amendment. In a message sent this week to the Rutherford County Library System board, Director Luanne James said she would not comply with an order to move more than 100 LGBTQ+ titles from youth sections to the adult area. “Restricting access to these materials through subjective relocation or removal constitutes a violation of the community’s right to information and a direct infringement on the principles of free speech,” she wrote in a letter to the board of the Rutherford County Library System on Wednesday. She called the board’s vote “a clear act of viewpoint discrimination” and said carrying it out would violate both the First Amendment and her professional obligations. “Therefore, I will not comply,” she wrote. The Rutherford County Library Board voted on Monday to relocate more than 190 books, many involving LGBTQ+ themes, from children’s and teen sections to adult areas following a review of “age-appropriate” materials.
Good on Rutherford County Library Director Luanne James for defying an order to relocate LGBTQ+-related books from the youth section to the adults section.
See Also:
LGBTQ Nation: “Hero” librarian won’t comply with order to remove LGBTQ+ books from kids section
The Rutherford County Library board terminated Luanne James after she said she would not comply with censorship directives.
Jacob Ogles at The Advocate:
A Tennessee library board voted to fire its director Monday after she refused to remove more than 100 LGBTQ+ books from the system’s shelves, capping weeks of escalating tension over censorship, access, and reader privacy. The Rutherford County Library Board made the decision during a heated emergency meeting in Murfreesboro, where members entered executive session before returning for a brief public vote to oust Library Director Luanne James, according to local reports. James had argued that removing or relocating the books, many of them in children’s sections, would amount to political censorship. “I stand by my decision, and I am not going to change my mind,” James said during the meeting, according to Nashville Fox affiliate WZTV.
Her refusal has drawn national attention from free expression advocates, who say the case reflects a broader campaign to restrict access to LGBTQ+ materials in public libraries. “Tonight, Luanne James was voted out of her library director position for refusing to move LGBTQ+ books into the adult section,” said Kasey Meehan, director of PEN America’s Freedom to Read program.
“With a firm: ‘I will not comply,’ Luanne demonstrated her deep commitment to the freedom to read and the principles of librarianship, at a steep cost,” Meehan said. “Her story will echo from the courthouse in Murfreesboro, Tenn., across the country as emblematic of the fight against censorship and suppression.”
Rutherford County Library System’s board fires hero librarian director Luanne James for rightly refusing to comply with an order to remove more than 100 LGBTQ+ books from the system’s shelves.
See Also:
The Guardian: Tennessee library director fired after refusing to move LGBTQ+-themed kids’ books to adult section
I stand with Luanne James. I stand with Luanne James. I stand with Luanne James.
Cody York is a imbecile.
Luanne James said as a librarian she had an obligation to protect the public’s right to access information
Tennessee library director has been fired after she refused to relocate more than 100 LGBTQ+-themed children’s titles to the library system’s adult section. The Rutherford county library board on Monday voted to fire Luanne James following a heated emergency meeting that involved supporters of hers chanting “We stand with Luanne!” while wearing shirts that read “Protect the freedom to read.” In an email sent to the Rutherford county library system board earlier in March, James criticized the board’s order to relocate the children’s titles, saying: “Restricting access to these materials through subjective relocation or removal constitutes a violation of the community’s right to information and a direct infringement on the principles of free speech.” She added: “Our libraries are funded by and for the citizens; therefore, the right to access information – free from government interference – is a protected hallmark of our democracy. “My duty to protect public access is not merely a personal opinion; it is a core tenet of the American Library Association’s code of ethics. As an arm of the county government, the board cannot legally limit the public’s access to materials owned by the people based on the content of the ideas expressed with them.”
Amid a nationwide rise in book bans and broader attacks targeting LGBTQ+ communities, including more than 500 hostile legislative bills, librarians from at least half a dozen states have joined forces with civil rights groups to push back. That has included working to protect LGBTQ+ rights and challenging what those librarians and their allies call a “manufactured crisis”.