Librarian to Receive $700,000 for Settlement in Censorship Lawsuit

We’re living through a moment where book banning is on the rise in the United States. That’s unsettling for countless reasons, from the stifling of speech to the potential that certain genres could be made illegal. As The New York Times noted in 2022, librarians have been at the center of many of the conflicts related to book bans. This week brought with it the resolution to one very high-profile case involving a Wyoming librarian. Could this indicate a shifting mood away from censorship?

As CBC Radio’s Sheena Goodyear reported, Terri Lesley was fired from her job as director of Campbell County’s library system more two years ago. She had worked for the library for decades until that point; her firing came after she declined to remove books from the library that addressed LGBTQIA+ themes. (Books featuring LGBTQIA+ characters are frequently among the most challenged in U.S. libraries.)

Lesley told the CBC that she attempted to mitigate the controversy at the time by explaining “how public libraries work, how we have materials in our library for the entire community, how this kind of material is important to certain members of our community.”

In the wake of her firing, Lesley filed lawsuits against both the county and several people who had agitated for her removal. Wyoming Public Radio’s Jeff Victor reported that one of those suits has reached its conclusion: Campbell County settled with Lesley and has agreed to pay her $700,000.

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According to the settlement, neither side admitted to wrongdoing. Instead, the document states that “this is a settlement of disputed claims and is not to be construed as an admission of liability by any party.” As for Lesley’s other lawsuit, Wyoming Public Radio reports that a trial is currently scheduled for next year.

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Tobias Carroll

Tobias Carroll lives and writes in New York City, and has been covering a wide variety of subjects — including (but not limited to) books, soccer and drinks — for many years. His writing has been published by the likes of the Los Angeles Times, Pitchfork, Literary Hub, Vulture, Punch, the New York Times and Men’s Journal. At InsideHook, he has…