Rural library in Washington state faces shutdown over book selection

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Angry residents launched a campaign to shut down the only library in their county because of “inappropriate” books that were supposedly too easy for children to access. Library opponents even gathered enough signatures to have the question appear on ballots in the November 2023 local election.  

Key Players

Jessica Ruffcorn, a mother of two who lives in Dayton, led the campaign against the library.

Todd Vandenbark, a former Dayton library director, left his position amid the controversy.

Ellen Brigham replaced Vandenbark as interim library director.  

Further Details

In mid-2022, Ruffcorn and a few other parents saw the book What’s the T in the young adults section of the library, The Seattle Times reported. The parents felt that the book, which addresses and answers questions about gender identity and coming out as transgender, was “not age appropriate.”

The parents then discovered 11 more books on the library shelves concerning racism, sexuality, and consent and requested that the library move the books to the adult section. But Vandenbark declined to do this, telling The Waitsburg Times that the library “welcomes feedback from patrons, community members, and others regarding its collections and services,” but that “no one has the right to make rules restricting what other people read or use, or to make decisions for other families.” 

Appealing this decision to the library board resulted in a 4-1 ruling that affirmed Vandenbark’s choice. Additionally, after Vandenbark rejected the request, library opponents assembled a list of over 100 books in the young adult section that featured sexual content, KUOW reported. Some demanded that the library move the entire young adult section, comprising over 800 books, to the adult section. The situation escalated even further after Ruffcorn and other opponents began to attend monthly library meetings. Ruffcorn called out Vandenbark on Facebook, accusing him of being “a groomer” who “invites vulnerable children to the library as a safe space.” 

Ruffcorn also began collecting signatures. By June 2023, she had submitted enough to introduce a November ballot measure that would dissolve the library district. A court rejected several of the signatures as illegitimate, forcing her to start again. But signatures were eventually approved a second time and the measure will appear on the ballot in November.    

Outcome

Vandenbark resigns as library director, replaced by Brigham 

In June, Vandenbark resigned as library director, telling supporters that he was tired of the controversy and was moving on to another job in a different city. Reportedly to avoid harassment, Vandenbark declined to say where he was moving, or what his new role would be.

Brigham replaced Vandenbark as interim director and immediately made changes, partially to appease Ruffcorn and other library opponents. She created a new parenting section, moving young adult nonfiction books to the adult section on the main floor. However, she refused to remove any books from the library entirely.

But Brigham’s changes did not satisfy Ruffcorn, who insisted that over 100 objectionable books remained downstairs, even after the young adult nonfiction books were moved upstairs. In an email to The Times, Ruffcorn wrote, “You cannot access porn on the library computers, but if you want to check it out in paper form, it is ok.”  

State law complicates the voting process 

According to The Nation, the state attorney general advised local officials that because of an obscure piece of state law governing rural library districts, only the residents living in unincorporated areas of the county are eligible to vote on the ballot measure. In November, the approximately 1,000 voters in unincorporated Columbia County will decide whether the 2,000 residents of Dayton will get to keep their library.