Conservative Book Ban Push Fuels Library Exodus From National Association That Stands up for Books

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) After parents in a rural and staunchly conservative Wyoming county joined nationwide pressure on librarians to pull books they considered harmful to youngsters, the local library board obliged with new policies making such books a higher priority for removal and keeping out of collections.

But that's not all the library board has done.

Campbell County also withdrew from the American Library Association, in what's become a movement against the professional organization that has fought against book bans.

This summer, the state libraries in Montana, Missouri and Texas and the local library in Midland, Texas, announced they're leaving the ALA, with possibly more to come. Right-wing lawmakers in at least nine other states Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota and Wyoming demand similar action.

Part of the reason is the association's defense of disputed books, many of which have LGBTQ+ and racial themes. A tweet by ALA President Emily Drabinski last year in which she called herself a Marxist lesbian also has drawn criticism and led to the Montana and Texas state library departures.