10/04/2026
Thoughts????
BREAKING🚨🏳️🌈 A Tennessee library board ordered its director to pull 132 children's books off the kids' shelves. She refused, they fired her 8-3, and now she's dragged all of them into federal court.
Luanne James, fired in March as director of the Rutherford County Public Library System, filed a federal civil rights lawsuit on September 23 in Nashville against the system and eight board members.
The order she refused came on March 16: move 132 children's books to the adult section. Most were about LGBTQ+ people. Others were flagged over female empowerment, diversity, witches and social justice.
"Doing so would violate the First Amendment right of all citizens of Rutherford County and myself," James wrote to the board two days later.
The complaint says former board chair Cody York was pushing to pull books with gay and transgender characters before he was even appointed, and that after joining in January 2023 he flagged titles over phrases like "nonbinary teens," "gay rights movement" and "diversity and inclusion." It says York then directed James to compile the list of patrons who borrowed LGBTQ+ books, including names, addresses and household information. She refused. York has denied wrongdoing.
On March 30, with more than 240 people packed into the Rutherford County Courthouse, the board voted 8-3 to fire her. "I will not change my mind," James said before the vote. York called it "insubordination."
The suit says that after the vote, York reposted social media posts praising the board, including one suggesting "more of these sick, rotten people must be shown the door."
The whole thing traces back to a letter Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett (R) sent libraries last October ordering an "age-appropriateness" review of children's books, citing Trump's executive order on "gender ideology." The same night it fired James, the board also voted to cut ties with the American Library Association and its ethics code.
A GoFundMe for James raised over $127,000 in a single week. She spent 25 years in public libraries and brought in roughly $6 million in grant funding.
She is seeking back pay, front pay and damages for mental anguish. The board is already interviewing her permanent replacement.
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