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Rutherford County Library System: Board of Directors Considers Viewpoint-Based Removal of Books

Cases

Case Overview

FIRE Victory closed

The board of the Rutherford County Library System in Tennessee discussed removing over a hundred books from its entire collection based on the books’ perceived promotion of “gender confusion.” FIRE wrote to the board on March 16, 2026, explaining that removing the books for this viewpoint-based reason would violate the First Amendment. The Board ultimately decided to move the books to the adult section.

Case Team

Brennen Vanderveen

Program Counsel

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