It’s about to become harder to close smalltown libraries

Legislators in Washington state are thwarting an attempt to shut down a small rural library.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Christian nationalists and Republicans nationwide have been banning books they don’t like. If they fail, they try to shut down entire libraries – and small towns make for an easy target.

Washington state legislators are working to make it harder for religious activists to shut down public libraries. Activists have been trying to use a law that hadn’t been updated in decades to shutter a rural library in the state.

While they’ve been stymied in the courts so far, a group of religious right activists has been trying to exploit a loophole in state law to close the only library in rural Columbia County. The vicious campaign started because the library’s collection included the book “What’s the T?: The Guide to all Things Trans and/or Nonbinary.”

Current law only requires 10% of residents of the unincorporated parts of the county to force a referendum on closing the library. In Columbia County, that would be just..

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