A Central Texas county might shut down its entire public library system rather than comply with a federal court order to restock books it removed from shelves.
Llano County, a small area of only about 21,000 residents, was ordered by a federal judge on March 30 to put back 12 children's books it had taken out of circulation from its three branch libraries. This came after a lawsuit from residents who argued that the books—some of which dealt with race and/or transgender themes—shouldn't be restricted based on what lawmakers and a new library board installed in 2021 might think.
CNN reports that the county appealed the judge's ruling, which required them to restock the books in a day (that hasn't happened), and have an agenda item for an upcoming meeting Thursday to discuss the idea of potentially discontinuing the library system and "the feasibility of the use of the library premises by the public." Shut it all down, huh?
A text message from Bonnie Wallace, vice chairman of the Llano County Advisory Board, told a supporter, "the judge has said, if we lose the injunction, he will CLOSE the library because he WILL NOT put the porn back in the kid's section!" The use of all caps and bad apostrophe placement in the text strongly suggest the county needs its libraries to remain open.
Some of the books that were banned include Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents and They Called Themselves the K.K.K.: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group—two books that only a very freaky person might consider porn—and Larry the Farting Leprechaun, which only an even freakier person might consider porn. Wallace has not commented on the freaky nature of the porn comparisons in her text.
If you are a member of the Llano library board and see any actual porn about farting leprechauns that we should be aware of, please email it to us. We kind of need to see that for ourselves!
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