LLANO, Texas — Libraries in Llano County were on the verge of being shut down after a federal judge ruled in favor of returning books that were considered controversial back to the shelves.
The Llano Library System has three branches: the Llano Library, the Kingsland Library and the Lakeshore Library.
On Thursday, the Llano County Commissioners Court called for a special meeting where they heard from people on both sides of the issue.
After about an hour of public comment, the county commissioners decided to remove the item related to closing down the library system off of their agenda, allowing the libraries to remain open for the time being.
"This has and will continue to be about Llano County affording parents the right to protect their children and to decide what material their children may access," the Office of the Llano County Judge said in a statement after the decision was made at Thursday's meeting.
Leila Green Little, along with six other Llano County residents successfully sued the County, the county judge, county commissioners, the library director and four members of the Library Advisory Board in April 2022, which then ensued in an ongoing legal battle to return 17 books to the shelves.
Some of the books removed were "The Butt and Fart Books"; "In the Night Kitchen" by Maurice Sendak; "It's Perfectly Normal" by Robbie H. Harris; "Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents"; "They Called Themselves the K.K.K.: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group"; "Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen"; and "Spinning."
The County has appealed the ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The county judge added in his statement Thursday that while they wait for a ruling, "A public library simply cannot function if its librarians, county judge, commissioners, and even the volunteers who serve out of the goodness of their heart, can be sued every time a library patron disagrees with a librarian's weeding decisions."
Dozens of Llano County residents who either spoke at Thursday's meeting or showed up in support were heartbroken and shocked at the possibility of their libraries getting shut down.
Protesters gathered with signs and waited outside the meeting, while some – one-by-one – went in to testify.
"There's all these wonderful things that a library provides that we don't need to lose. And I think censorship should be on the parental level, not the county level," said James Arno, who testified before the county judge and commissioners on Thursday.
Zoya Farzampour told KVUE she homeschools all three of her children and considers the libraries a lifeline for her family.
"Ask any homeschooler, or we're a part of the Texas Small Country Homeschoolers and thousands of members all over the Texas Hill Country. And when we, whenever we have new parents coming in, 'How do I homeschool my children? What is one of your No. 1 resources? I'm looking for people, for my kids to be around as they are learning at home.' We tell them, 'Libraries are your No. 1 friend,'" Farzampour said.
Amanda Starkes said she is a former librarian for the Kingsland Library and she's been following the book ban controversy since it started. She was elated to learn she still has a place to go read and write.
"We showed the world and we showed those commissioners and the judge that we will not be silent and we want these libraries open," she said.