Officials in Campbell County, Wyo., have agreed to pay $700,000 to a librarian they fired after she refused to implement a series of book bans.
Terri Lesley, former director of the Campbell County library system, was fired in 2023 after she refused to remove books with content about LGBTQ+ issues and human sexuality that offended some people in the area.
Lesley filed a lawsuit against the county alleging a hostile work environment and charging that the library board acted with “malice” and with “reckless disregard” of her rights. A separate section of her lawsuit raised church-state issues, asserting that the library board and county officials tried to curate the library’s collection “in a way that endorsed or favored one denomination of Christianity over other Christian denominations, other religious beliefs, and/or over non-religious beliefs.”
Last month, the case was settled out of court, and Lesley, who had been at the library for nearly 20 years, will receive $700,000.
“I do feel vindicated. It’s been a rough road, but I will never regret standing up for the First Amendment,” Lesley said, reported CBS News.
Among the books singled out was an LGBTQ-themed title, This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson, which is a frequent target for Christian Nationalist censors. But several tomes dealing with human sexuality and/or dating were also targeted, including How Do You Make a Baby by Anna Fiske, Doing It! Let’s Talk About Sex by Hannah Witton, Sex is a Funny Word by Cory Silverberg, and Dating and Sex: A Guide for the 21st Century Teen Boy by Andrew P. Smiler.
Iris Halpern, Lesley’s attorney, remarked, “We hope at least that it sends a message to other library districts, other states, other counties, that the First Amendment is alive and strong and that our values against discrimination also remain alive and strong. These are public entities, they’re government officials, they need to keep in mind their constitutional obligations.”
As AU noted on its blog, aggressive Christian Nationalist groups are stepping up their attacks on the freedom to access information, read and learn. During Banned Books Week, which ran Oct. 5-11, anti-censorship organizations highlighted the scope of the problem.
PEN America documented 6,870 instances of book bans during the 2024-25 school year. In a recent report, the group called book bans “rampant and common” in America, adding, “Never before in the life of any living American have so many books been systematically removed from school libraries across the country. Never before have so many states passed laws or regulations to facilitate the banning of books, including bans on specific titles statewide.”
Americans United has opposed religiously based censorship since its founding. On Oct. 9, the group hosted a webinar featuring youth activists. Titled, “Uncensored: Youth Voices Against Book Bans,” the event was moderated by Alicia Johnson, AU’s youth organizer and senior programs manager, and the speakers were Azeemah Sadiq of Students Engaged in Advancing Texas, Josie Mitz of PFLAG and Katie Turcke, a former AU Youth Organizing Fellow.