Rural conservatives push to dissolve local library that ignored their book ban demands

A library in Columbia County, Washington has been the center of a culture fight as right-wing activists in the rural community have unsuccessfully tried to ban a number of books. Now, they are instead trying to dissolve the library district altogether, reported the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin.

According to the report, officials at the library voted to reject a move by local activists to remove 11 books that were claimed to be "age-inappropriate sexual material" because they referred to gender identity topics. Seth Murdock, Marcene Hendrickson, and Judith Strode, locals appointed by the Board of Trustees to lay out the case for abolishing the library, claim they now have 100 examples of problem books.

“Whether there can be short term appeasement on this issue is immaterial, because in the process of dealing with it, a greater truth has been revealed that this public library is an irretrievably compromised entity, and it needs to be removed from our midst,” they wrote in a statement.

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The statements for and against dissolution of the library district will be sent in pamphlets to local voters, who will have the final decision on the matter.

Murdock has been involved in other right-wing activism in Southeastern Washington. Last year, according to the Waitsburg Times, he vocally objected to the establishment of a taxpayer-funded child care facility in neighboring Walla Walla County because the YMCA would run it. By Murdock's own admission, he had no idea what the YMCA is, but, he said, they promote "eliminating racism and empowering women" on their website, so they obviously want to indoctrinate children with an "attitude of victimization."

This comes amid a broad push around the country to block children from accessing books involving race and gender topics. The policy is being driven by Republican lawmakers and groups like Moms for Liberty, a far-right organization known for its ties to the Proud Boys and other anti-government extremists. What began as a bid to remove such books from school lesson plans soon extended to removing them from school libraries, public libraries, and even private booksellers.

When efforts to remove books have failed, many of these activists have sought to close libraries altogether. In Llano, Texas, locals considered but ultimately rejected a plan to shut down the local library system after a judge ordered 12 banned books involving racial and LGBTQ topics to be restored to shelves.