Court blocks ballot measure to close WA rural library district
Juno Dawson’s ‘What’s the T?’ is one of several books that have sparked controversy in Dayton. (Genna Martin/Crosscut)
The Dayton Memorial Library in Columbia County will survive, after a court on Wednesday blocked a general-election ballot measure that called for dissolving it.
A Columbia County-based group, Neighbors United for Progress, filed a lawsuit to stop the measure. It had qualified for the November ballot after a petition by people upset by the Columbia County Library District’s placement of LGBTQ+ books for teenagers.
Columbia County Superior Court Commissioner Julie Karl blocked the Columbia County Auditor’s Office from printing ballots with the measure. She said in court that dissolving the library would be an “irreparable loss” to the community because of the diverse services it provides aside from books, noting its resources for people who are low-income or who do not have housing.
Neighbors United for Progress also argued that because only Columbia County voters who live outside the Dayton city limits could vote on the measure, it would disenfranchise city residents who pay taxes for the district by violating their rights to representation. The library district’s sole building is within the city limits of Dayton, the largest city in Columbia County.
Earlier this year, community resident Jessica Ruffcorn organized the petition after she and others were upset that minors had access to LGBTQ+ books that they believe have sexual content. The community debate leading to the ballot measure in this rural Washington county mirrors a growing national fight over access to books in schools and libraries throughout the U.S.