Texas county defies book ban attempt, keeps libraries open.

Llano County, Texas, will keep its libraries open after a federal court ruling that the county could not remove books they considered bad for children. The county removed a slate of books from its library shelves in 2021, sparking a lawsuit on First Amendment grounds. Most of the banned books were children’s titles that included sex, gender and race themes, but it also included joke books and Maurice Sendak’s picture book “In the Night Kitchen.” After banning the books in 2021, Llano County commissioners dissolved the library’s own board.