Great news from Texas – the federal district court in Austin, Texas has issued a preliminary injunction ordering the Llano County, Texas government and library board to return the books removed from the collection of the Llano County Public Library because certain library users, county residents, and county officials complained that the books’ contents were objectionable. Noting that many of the banned books were well-regarded, prize-winning books, the court also ordered the defendants to list the books as available for checkout in the library’s catalog and to refrain from removing any books from the Llano County library for the pendency of the plaintiffs’ lawsuit.

Among the books to be returned to the library shelves are Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent by Isabel Wilkerson; In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak; It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex and Sexual Health by Robie Harris; My Butt is So Noisy!, I Broke My Butt!, and I Need a New Butt! by Dawn McMillan;  Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen by Jazz Jennings;  Shine by Lauren Myracle; and Gabi, a Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero.  

The court issued the injunction based on the court’s belief that the plaintiffs have a high likelihood of success of prevailing on their First Amendment claims at trial.

The Office for Intellectual Freedom and the Freedom to Read Foundation are proud to have supported both patrons and staff of the Llano County library as they prepared to challenge the book bans in federal court. We congratulate the plaintiffs and their counsel on their success.

The Court’s opinion is embedded below: