Arkansas Advocate Now-former director Patty Hector says she “did not do anything wrong, except to not ban books”
The Saline County judge fired the director of the county library system Monday, seven weeks after county officials gave the judge some power to hire and fire library staff.
Patty Hector, who ran the Saline County Library for seven years, said County Judge Matt Brumley and county human resources director Christy Peterson told her in person Monday morning that her “services are no longer needed.”
Trevor Villines, the county communications director, also confirmed that Hector “is no longer employed” by the library.
UPDATED: Saline County officials express support for library obscenity law after much public input
The Central Arkansas county has been the state’s primary battleground for the debate over what content should be available to children in public libraries. Several county residents have said at quorum court and library board meetings said that no one under 18 should be able to access some content pertaining to racism, sexual activity and LGBTQ+ topics, calling it “indoctrination.”
The all-Republican Saline County Quorum Court recommended in April that the library “relocate materials that are not subject-matter or age appropriate for children, due to their sexual content or imagery, to an area that is not accessible to children.”
Hector became the target of conservative ire earlier this year when she refused to follow the quorum court’s recommendation. She told the quorum court in May that “there is nothing wrong with” the books in question.
Brumley responded by telling the five-member library board at its regularly scheduled meeting that month that Hector’s words gave him a “high degree of concern” and reminding board members that he plays a role in appointing them.
Hector said at the time that relocating books “is the same as banning” them; Brumley and members of the public said they disagreed...
READ FULL ARTICLE HERE... - Arkansas Advocate
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