Public libraries are the latest front in culture war battle over books
< < Go Back
Melody Hotek watched the library board room filling up and knew she was in for a tough night. Soon every seat was taken and people lined the walls, some 120 in total, with two sheriff’s deputies on hand for any trouble.
In the two years she’d been a member of the board, the 70-year-old grandmother was used to quiet sessions with zero spectators.
Now the crowd was buzzing and jittery. A few months earlier, a handful of residents had begun demanding the removal of certain books in the children’s section of Warren County’s only public library. Most of the titles involved LGBTQ+ themes. Powered by support from conservative media, the group persuaded the county board of supervisors in June to withhold 75 percent of the library’s funding until something was done to address the complaints.
More From The Washington Post (subscription required):
Rss Feed