Book Bans, Big Brother: Why I’m Fighting for My Library

When you walk into Samuels Public Library in Front Royal, Virginia, you feel the joy. I felt it in full force on July 1, 2025, when the library welcomed more than 1,200 toddlers, teenagers, grownups, grandparents, and everyone in between for a celebratory Open House.

In the conference room just off the main lobby, the air was filled with the aroma of Starbucks coffee and cinnamon-sugar donuts from the iconic Apple House. At one table, a little girl beamed as she held up her neatly folded origami heart. At another, a group of strangers leaned over a jigsaw puzzle, working together like old friends. Volunteers, staff, and neighbors came together in a space alive with possibility, curiosity, and connection. My library was at its best, bringing the community together for fun and camaraderie in a space dedicated to learning. It was a great party, but more importantly, it was a celebration of survival.

To understand why this event mattered so deeply, you need to know what we’ve been through. More than two years ago, a tiny group of radical, traditionalist Catholics attacked the library. Their strategy was to file more than 500 forms demanding the removal of any book they deemed to have LGBTQ+ content, including the benign picture book Red: A Crayon’s Story by Michael Hall, about a blue crayon mislabeled red. But they didn’t stop at the books. They launched personal attacks on our beloved librarians, accusing them of harboring pornography, grooming children, and condoning pedophilia. It was vicious. It was false. And it was terrifying.

The librarians and staff stood firm. They refused to censor their shelves or betray the principles of intellectual freedom. And the community responded. Residents packed local government meetings, raised money for legal expenses, and wrote letters in defense of the library. We showed up, again and again. Every challenged book remained on the shelf. But the battle escalated.

Two members of the book-banning group ran unopposed and won seats on the five-member Warren County Board of Supervisors. Two additional members joined them, creating a four-to-one majority against the library. The attacks shifted from book bans to financial sabotage. The Board accused the staff of financial mismanagement without offering a shred of evidence as they tried to defund and dismantle the library. They attempted a hostile takeover by trying to dissolve the nonprofit library board that has overseen Samuels since the 1950s and replace it with a for-profit corporation.

As a writer and lifelong learner, I couldn’t stay silent. During that first wave, I wrote fact sheets about book banning and First Amendment rights. I wrote articles and letters to the editor. I worked behind the scenes to help draft the narrative that secured a $500,000 Mellon grant for a new Makerspace. When the library needed help telling its story, I got out my pen and set to work.

When the community held a fundraising event modeled on the historic “Silver Teas” of the 1920s, I researched the roots of the library and traced its history back to a group of determined women who came together to found the original Front Royal Community Library. I presented that history at the 2025 Silver Tea, calling on the women of today to follow in their footsteps. The result? The library’s staff, librarians, and Board of Trustees went on to raise more than $550,000 to defend Samuels. I’ve always believed in the power of the pen, and this fight reminded me just how powerful the pen can be.

By early 2025, the situation was dire. The Board of Supervisors was threatening to eliminate the library’s $1.02 million in annual funding. Samuels’ nonprofit Board of Trustees stood firm. The community braced for impact. Then, momentum shifted.

Two of the four anti-library supervisors announced they wouldn’t run for re-election. That opened the door to a potential majority swing after the November 2025 election. But with Warren County’s Republican lean, the June primary would likely decide the outcome. Two Republican candidates who supported the library stepped forward and won their primaries on June 17. At the same time, the community rallied again, raising another $100,000 to keep the library’s doors open into the next calendar year without County support.

And that’s what we celebrated on July 1. Not just books. Not just a Makerspace or puzzles or origami hearts. We celebrated the grit of our librarians, the persistence of our neighbors, and the power of shared values. Samuels Public Library has been serving this community in its current form since 1953, with roots going back two centuries. It is not a fragile institution. But it is one that needs defending.

Unfortunately, the fight isn’t over. That same night, at the July 1 Board of Supervisors meeting, the loudest opponent of the library—the same man who repeatedly accuses Samuels of wrongdoing without proof—called the library a “supplicant” and demanded it bow to the will of the Board. This is not how partnerships work. This is not how democracy works.

I still believe the library will survive. I believe the voters will make their voices heard again in November. And I believe in the people who have been showing up for this fight in ways large and small for over two years. They will prevail.

We are not the only library going through a difficult time. Book bans are on the rise across the country. We’re seeing the erosion of public trust, the targeting of LGBTQ+ voices, and the growing belief that our cherished institutions are disposable. But I still believe in the possibility of shared joy and shared space.

I want my community to be one that welcomes all people, defends knowledge, and brings joy to everyone who wants to learn. I want the world I find at my public library.

And I will keep using my voice—and my pen—to defend it.

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I have a commentary coming out in the Northern Virginia Daily next week, and I’ll share it as soon as it’s live.

In the meantime, how is your local library doing in this climate of book banning and censorship? Is it a place that matters deeply to you, too?