Alarm as Tennessee libraries shut down for Republican 'book purge'

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Raw Story

November 28, 2025 6:45AM ET


Public libraries in Tennessee have begun to shut down as they carry out an order from state officials to remove children’s books containing LGBTQ+ themes or characters.

For Popular Information, Rebecca Crosby and Noel Sims reported Tuesday that the “book purge” is required to be carried out at all 181 libraries in the Tennessee Regional Library System, which encompasses most of the state, aside from cities like Nashville and Memphis.

It comes after Tennessee’s Republican Secretary of State, Tre Hargett, sent a pair of letters earlier this fall. The first, sent on September 8, said that in order to receive state and federal grants, which run through his office, libraries needed to comply with a Tennessee law banning diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) offices from agencies, as well as President Donald Trump’s executive order on “gender ideology,” which effectively ended the federal recognition of transgender and nonbinary individuals.

As the report notes, neither of these orders says anything about library books. However, Hargett argued that compliance with the executive order mandated book bans because it states that “federal funds shall not be used to promote gender ideology.”

Read more: https://www.rawstory.com/alternet-posts/tennessee-book-bans-2674352969/

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Link to REPORT - Tennessee public libraries close for Trump-inspired book purge

[CrispyQ]

1. People who ban books are never the good guys.

Even people who don't read, don't like to hear that books are being banned.

[Duncanpup]

2. A lot of repigs are confused about their own sexuality.

https://lawsuit.org/general-law/republicans-have-an-obsession-with-transgender-pornography/

[Nittersing]

3. I feel so sad for all those librarians.

This has to be soul crushing for them.

[Stargleamer]

12. It is. They even made a documentary about it. . .

&t=79s

https://thelibrariansfilm.com/

[yellowdogintexas]

21. This is based on events in Tarrant County Texas (where I live)

I have not had a chance to see it; when it played in Ft Worth it sold out in a day. The producers are trying to negotiate another showing at the Modern Art Museum Theater (where it played earlier this month)

We have a runoff in a State Senate Special Election coming up in January. It was a 3 way race; 2 Republicans and 1 Democrat. Taylor Rehmet (The Democrat) got 48% of the vote against 2 Republicans. His Republican opponent in the runoff is heavily funded by Patriot Mobile and other MAGA groups. If we manage to flip this seat, it will be big news as it is a clear sign of change.

A wrap up of the original election from Fort Worth Report:
Rehmet, an Air Force veteran and union organizer, led with 47.57% of early votes, while Wambsganss, chief communications officer for the Patriot Mobile wireless service provider, received 35.94%.

Rehmet’s near-victory was unexpected by many, as the seat has been held by Republicans since 1991. The Democrat’s two Republican opponents, Wambsganss and former Southlake Mayor John Huffman, spent a bulk of their campaigns attacking each other as fake or insincere conservatives.

Rehmet ran a relatively low-budget campaign of about $120,000 raised from July to late October, compared to Wambsganss’ raised budgets of $1.6 million. The Democrat’s campaign emphasizes workers’ rights and is funded mostly by unions and small individual donations. Several Democratic lawmakers made donations in the $1,000 range.

“When you talk with people instead of at them, when you organize block by block instead of begging billionaires for checks, when you fight like hell for working families because you are one, this is what happens,” Rehmet said in a statement after the election results.

Wambsganss, who described herself as “ultra-MAGA” and is running on issues including tax cuts and gun rights, has a campaign largely bankrolled by Republican billionaires.

“The conservative voters of SD9 have spoken clearly and distinctly. They want to send a conservative patriot to Austin to represent them,” Wambsganss said in an election night statement.

Wambsganss is a Christian Nationalist, anti-DEI, anti "Critical Race Theory", and anti LGBTQ "indoctrination. The PAC she chaired worked to elect conservative school board members in 2022. (In 2024, the Patriot Mobil Action PAC lost all their school board races except 1)

[kimbutgar]

4. It was be interesting to see how the upcoming house election turns out Tennesse!

A people don’t like censorship and this is no the will of the people losing libraries.

[NoRethugFriends]

8. Dream on, sadly.

[kimbutgar]

9. I've only been to Memphis 25 years ago and it wasn't that crazy then.

[yellowdogintexas]

22. Definitely! I lived in Davidson County for 15 years; until the last redistricting in 2021 that district was very blue

The district was cut up into sections and attached to Republican trending districts.

I do hope she wins!!!

[Diamond_Dog]

5. God forbid you go to a library

to choose a book on Black History, Famous Women, Native Tribes, or anything like that. Republicans only want people to learn about white people..

Why can’t they put all the books with LBGTQ themes in a special section and require being over 16 to borrow one? Or parental consent for young people’s books on that theme. Republicans are always bleating about having freedom.

[ShazzieB]

15. Republicans have a unique definition of freedom.

To them, freedom means the "freedom" to think, behave, and believe as they (i.e., Republicans) see fit.

[murielm99]

24. That is still censorship and

the ALA does not like it. Most of us have clauses in our selection policies that forbid this. People should be free to come into the library and check out anything there. Books should not be segregated, kept in locked cabinets, on the librarian's desk, or labeled with cautionary marks of any kind on their spines.

[Diamond_Dog]

28. I realize it's not a perfect solution

But was trying to think of a way to compromise with the censorship zealots. I should realize there is no such thing as compromise with them My apologies.

[llmart]

27. I've worked in libraries for more than a decade.

This would go against everything library administration, librarians and most library boards would do. During Dubya's administration after 9/11 they also targeted libraries, wanting to send the authorities in to ask for patrons' check-out records. Most librarians would just not comply. I once had to deal with some old geezer who objected to us having the DVD "The Vagina Monologues" out in the new releases section in the lobby. He thought I would just say, "OK. I'll put it back here behind the circ desk under the counter and people can ask for it." That's not the answer I gave. I did think I was very tactful in how I said no. What I wanted to say wasn't very professional.

[Diamond_Dog]

29. See my response above (#28)

If librarians do not comply, then what happens? I remember reading a story somewhere about threatening to arrest non compliant librarians.

[murielm99]

31. We never share circulation records.

They are confidential.

[llmart]

34. That's a given in libraries.

I think the general public has some notion that people who work in the library have some way of seeing what people have checked out in the past.

[murielm99]

35. Years ago, it was possible.

Patrons would sign a card and turn it in at the desk. The librarian at the desk would hand stamp a card in the book. We don't do it that way any more. Now it is much more anonymous. I did a lot of reading recommendation. Patrons would ask for Westerns, mysteries, science fiction, specific authors, reference questions, etc. That is confidential as well. But to this day I remember people's reading preferences. Sometimes they see me and remind me of our interactions.

On Thanksgiving day, I ran into a lady who was a former patron. I have to say that she had great kids. She is not so great. The woman would not even look at me on Thanksgiving when I saw her. We went out to a Thanksgiving buffet, and she was one table away from me. I would have smiled and said hello if she had not purposely ignored me. When she left, I said something to my husband. I told him that years ago, I had registered her to vote. We offered that service, too.

[llmart]

36. Yes, I am old enough to remember those days.

My library work experience is more current since my career was mostly in the corporate world, but I've always been an active library patron and remember large drawered card catalogs and librarians who actually remembered my name when I came in. The library was my sanity when I was growing up.

[bluestarone]

6. The HATE grows in my heart!!

These are so fucking worthless human beings!! Edit to add the RETHUGS are the worst sexual abusers, just for show is what they are doing. I would love to open their FN closets!!

[Diamond_Dog]

10. Don't you love it how he frames his EO as "Defending Women From Something Bad"

We have such fragile little brains and frail constitutions we need to be defended from these dangerous GAYS by the almighty savior Trump!! GAG ME

[NewHendoLib]

7. Sick, sick, sick.

[AZJonnie]

11. How long are they shutting down for?

I mean, maybe for a few days so staff could focus on conducting an audit and doing the physical (and online) removals, but I can't imagine that shut down is synonymous with permanent closure in this context. I hope not, anyway.

Religious zealots sure are dedicated though, I'll give them that. No matter HOW MANY times their made-up-fairy-tale "beliefs" run square into the brick wall of demonstrable facts and evidence, they double-down on the illogic and stupidity

In the case at hand, such people desperately want to believe that LGTBQ+ people are somehow "created by evil elements of society", which are of course particularly prevalent in whatever era/area they currently exist within (no matter where or when that is/was). Cause, ya know, surely GAWD wouldn't have "created" the very people they're inclined to hate. They must be a creation of "corrupt, evil humans" or "Satan" or whatnot, and if we just could remove all mention of such people from writings, or adopt a position as a society that their existence is verboten, these people who's existence flies in the face of their rather arbitrarily determined "faith" would simply cease to exist.

Nevermind that there's some fairly compelling evidence that King James was homosexual, and obviously if such individuals didn't exist at the time their "holy book" was written, the idea would never be addressed even once-per-Testament (ergo they're clearly not unique to current, US society). They're happy to find any pathetic excuse to justify their hate and discrimination that "works", I suppose

[Mblaze]

13. Tennessee

"The Closet State"

[Efilroft Sul]

14. Libraries should get militant and challenge these assholes to come and take them.

[murielm99]

25. Some do. They need support from

their library boards and their communities. Often, the ALA will help.

[llmart]

32. They are sometimes quietly "militant".

Some librarians would just quietly say "not on my watch" and force the authorities to try to arrest a librarian and see the ensuing uproar. Not a good look I'd say.

[Fiddlelady11]

16. I doubt

That this is legal.

[BWdem4life]

17. I don't know about the rest of you

But I would never have even looked twice at the opposite sex if it hadn't been for all the books I read.

[BidenRocks]

18. My Memphis, 1973 -74

Catch a bus from NAS Millington, stay at the Y and party at Overton Square and Beale Street.

I did see I was a minority but that didn't matter. I was 18 and in the Marines.

Good times at the Hot Air Balloon, TGI Fridays and the riverfront.

Berkles Bakery was great. A sit down run by older ladies.
Are you going to eat all that?

I enjoyed my time there.

[BlueKota]

19. To quote Heinrich Heine:

"Those who burn books will in the end burn people. "

[pfitz59]

20. This latest election cycle

Many of those radical school board Fascists got the boot. We need to oust them all.

[murielm99]

23. When I was a public librarian,

a woman wanted me to remove "The Grapes of Wrath" from the library. She said that she did not want her children to read books with "that kind of language." I asked her if she had read the book. She had not. I had a horrible library board at the time. I do not think they would have backed me. I was ready to take it to the community, or even farther if necessary.

My daughter is a library director at a large community college in California. I think if she had any censorship issues, her college would support her decisions. These days, though, one never knows. I hope she does not have to go through anything like that.

[llmart]

33. I had four different directors in the years I worked in public libraries.

Every last one of them would have backed me up. Not sure about all the board members. This was in a rather rural area but slowly becoming more of a suburb as more college educated white collar workers moved in. It was difficult to even get people to be on the board, so usually the ones who may have sided with this knew enough to ask the director what they thought should be done.

[Bayard]

26. It would be great if Dolly Parton made a statement condemning this action,

But that might be construed as DEI itself.

We need some of this:

[wcmagumba]

30. I can't decide which state sucks the most, Texas was bad 40 years ago but TN is giving them a run for the money...

I apologize and feel sorry for all you good progressives living in those two states, but then again, I live in mostly red Kansas, it can suck here too when the thuglicans get their panties in a twist about something that should be none of their business.

[IcyPeas]

37. Ha! As if magats read!!

[Laffy Kat]

38. I am so damn glad I don't live there anymore.

It was a pretty nice place to grow up, but that's all over.

[OldBaldy1701E]

39. WOW, these rethugs are really fixated on other people's genitals, aren't they?? (n/t)

[Skittles]

41. I remember a conservative asking me, don't I find the idea of two men having sex disgusting?

I told him, honestly I never think about it - but it sure seems like YOU do

[Skittles]

40. where are the people who whine about BIG GUMINT