Librarians Fight to Protect Free Speech

By Jane Laurey

Amidst an all-time high in book bans and challenges, especially those focusing on the LGBTQ+ community and people of color, librarians across the country have begun to fight back against this trend. 

Librarians are fighting against book bans through lawsuits, engaging their communities, and more. Suzette Baker, a Texas librarian, is just one librarian who has lost her job over her objection to censorship. Baker refused to take a third edition of Critical Race Theory off the shelves and keep it behind the counter, resulting in her termination.

“Libraries are neutral space. And they should be protected as that neutral space. There’s no protections for them,” Baker stated. “We need a free library, a library of everything, a library that reflects the good, the bad and the ugly.

Baker has refused to stand idly by as censorship has taken over libraries, and she is now suing Llano County, the location of her former workplace. She is suing under the claim that the county fired her to allow them to discriminate against groups, such as the LGBTQ+ community and people of color. She is also claiming that the county has withheld her First Amendment rights.

“This was never about the books. This was never about protecting people,” Baker said. “The books that they gave me to get rid of were books on racism. They were books on transgender and sexual orientation and questioning for teens.”

Baker is not the only librarian fighting against censorship, as a Colorado librarian named Brooky Parks won a $250,000 settlement from her former employer, the High Plains Library District. She filed a civil rights dispute after being fired in 2021 for creating anti-racist and LGBTQ+ programs for teenagers.

“Teens need those programs,” Parks said. “If it costs me losing my job or even losing my house, it’s worth standing up for and fighting for. And I know at the end of the day, I will be able to lay my head down and sleep at night.”