Facing down leftist vitriol and activist-driven anger, a Tennessee library board voted to fire a library director who refused to follow a directive aimed at shielding kids browsing library shelves from transgender ideology.
The Rutherford County Library board voted 8-3 on Monday to fire director Luanne James after she refused their direction to move transgender-themed books from the children’s section of the library to the adult section. Leftist activists showed up in force to the board meeting in Murfreesboro, a suburb of Nashville, where they repeatedly disrupted the meeting with yelling and screaming.
The vote came after the board directed James to move books with transgender themes to the adult section of the library, where they could still be checked out by parents or by kids with parental approval. James refused to comply with the board, claiming that moving the books to a different location in the library would violate the First Amendment.
Books the board directed moved to the adult section included “The Gender Wheel,” “Who Are You? The Kids Guide to Gender Identity,” and “When Aidan Became A Brother” — a picture book about a gender-confused girl who started identifying as a boy.
“The law was made to protect the most vulnerable, which is children. Follow the law,” Rutherford County school board member Caleb Tidwell said during public comment at the meeting. “Protect the children. Hold the line.”
When given a chance to speak during the meeting, James said she would not change her mind.
“I stand by my decision. I will not change my mind,” she said. In a later statement, she said she lost her job because she was fired for protecting “the rights of all community members to access books and information.”
“I refused to do so because I believe such action constitutes censorship, violates the First Amendment, and goes against my duty to uphold intellectual freedom under American Library Association guidelines,” she said. “Librarians should not be used as a filter for political agendas. I stood up for the right to read — standing for the citizens of Rutherford County. I believe my firing is an unlawful act of viewpoint discrimination. This action hurts library patrons, not just the librarian.”
Footage from the meeting revealed the crowd erupting in anger at the board’s decision to fire her.
After the vote, the crowd angrily yelled and gestured toward board members who voted to fire James.
Footage captured by local news outlets showed how the balcony of the meeting room was filled with protesters wearing matching shirts and chanting. Leftist groups like the ACLU of Tennessee and the Rutherford County Library Alliance had organized support for James.
Ultimately the board said they should be able to set library system policy.
“The Executive Director’s refusal to implement a lawful directive of the Rutherford County Library Board constitutes insubordination,” Board Chair Cody York said in the days leading up to the vote. “When a Director refuses to carry out a duly adopted Board decision, it undermines the governance of the institution and cannot be ignored.”
James said she was exploring all legal options after the firing while the library board has also retained a lawyer over the matter.
Advocates for moving the books argued that it was necessary to comply with state laws related to ensuring kids have access to age-appropriate materials and President Donald Trump’s executive actions on transgender ideology.
Some media outlets have suggested books were directed to be moved because of themes related to “female empowerment” and “diversity and inclusion.” Those are references to notes put on lists of disputed books by library staff, not the board.
Prior to the board’s directive to move the books related to transgender ideology, library staff at Rutherford County Library System compiled a list of over 2,000 books they had flagged for possible compliance with Tennessee law. Staffers flagged books about the Bible and Aesop’s Fables, among others, for review.
This contrasted with books flagged by the board, which focused primarily on materials related to transgender ideology and graphic violence.
The fight over books in Rutherford County has been ongoing for several years — and mirrors fights across the country — and pits concerned parents against leftwing activists for control of school and public libraries.
Last year, the Rutherford County Library board voted to remove all books promoting transgenderism to children from its system as they passed a resolution to “remove material that promotes, encourages, advocates for or normalizes transgenderism or ‘gender confusion’ in minors.”
That effort was later withdrawn over fears of a lawsuit. The latest discussions involve only moving books, not removing them from the library system entirely. Several years ago, the board did direct the complete removal of the book “Let’s Talk About It,” from the circulation. The book contains sexually explicit illustrations of sex and genitalia.
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