The director of the Idaho Library has submitted her resignation, citing the political climate of “extremism”, “militant Christian fundamentalism” and “intimidation” as reasons for her early departure from public office.

“I would like to thank the Borders County Library Board of Trustees for giving me the opportunity to serve as Borders County Library Director,” Library Director Kimber Glidden wrote in an announcement posted on the library’s Facebook page.

“My experience and skill set has enabled me to help the county transition to a more relevant and relevant business model and implement updated policies and best practices,” added the director, who joined the institution late last year. “However, nothing in my upbringing could have prepared me for the political climate of extremism, militant Christian fundamentalism, intimidation tactics and threatening behavior that are currently being used in society.”

Glidden said he intends to step down September 10 as head of the library, located in the northernmost county of Idaho.

The Borders County Library is located at Bonners Ferry, one of the most remote locations in the western state, especially during the winter months, and serves approximately 12,000 residents.

The library boasts on its website that in 2017 it received an award for best small library in America from Journal of Library Journalthe leading publication for the industry.

However, at the start of the year, board members faced a growing tide of parents and community members who were challenging the library’s lending policy for books they considered “pornographic”, reflecting the extent of the culture war. , conservatives who think LGBT+-themed books are “dangerous” can infiltrate small-town politics.

In counties and states across the country, parents, guardians, and even state-elected politicians are challenging any content that addresses issues of sexual orientation, gender identity, or even race, for fear that including such topics will manipulate children’s minds.

This kind of effort to ban books from libraries, schools and universities reached a two-decade high last year alone, according to the American Library Association (ALA), with a national group finding 729 examples of such problems.

The group noted that books written “by or about people of color or LGBTQIA+” were most targeted.

For the Borders County Library, these same themes initially prompted a group of parents and residents to form a group called the Borders County Library Board Recall, whose stated mission is “to protect children from explicit material and care.”

Lee Colson, who represents Area 5 on the library’s board, said that since the group started advocating for the removal of books that discussed LGBT+ topics, he’s just “gone out of there.”

More recently, a group of concerned parents petitioned to remove four of the library’s five board members, including Ms. M. Colson, after the institution overhauled its policy for collecting and selecting new library materials.

“The selection of materials will not be affected by potential disapproval, and the Borders County Library will not place materials on ‘closed shelves’ or label items to protect the public from their content,” the new policy states. site, library. .

The band’s parents, who also took issue with Glidden’s return to the ALA library in May, wrote to band website of his growing concern that the association “has a clear mission statement that is not in line with the moral principles of the majority in our community” and also shared a link to an article written by an alternative right-wing news website describing a national non-right-wing movement. a for-profit organization guilty of facilitating the “care” of LGBT+ content on the shelves.

Independent reached out to the group to comment on the petition, but received no immediate response.

The group has also repeatedly compiled a list of books often touted in right-wing circles as problematic titles and the cause of their fear, but officials have indicated that none of these titles are currently curated by the library.

“So what they’re really trying to do is limit our ability to choose books for our collection,” Colson told the newspaper. Idaho press.

When a person requests a title, the institution’s librarians can request material from a neighboring institution through the interlibrary loan process. If enough requests are received for a particular title, the library has the right to make that book a permanent part of its borrowed collection.

“We get books that people are interested in reading,” Coulson added.

The outgoing library director said she would have resigned immediately, except for the fact that the library’s annual budget is due next month and she prefers to stay to guide them through the tedious process before leaving. .

“The county line is a warning,” Glidden told the newspaper. Idaho press, reiterating that none of the titles of the so-called list of bad books are kept by the institution. “It’s not about the books.”

Headlines recently criticized by right-wing conservative groups include not only LGBTQ+ content, but also those that discuss race and politics.

A parent in Texas allegedly tried to convince Kathy’s school district to remove a book about former First Lady Michelle Obama because it promotes “reverse racism” against white people, while the Tennessee School Board recently removed Mouse, a graphic novel about a terrible the experience of the author’s parents in connection with the Holocaust – after they considered the content inappropriate for children.

And the reflex response to book bans is stronger than in local school districts. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis banned more than 50 math textbooks in April after the Department of Education found the materials were too “awake,” noting they included “critical race theory” and “unsolicited additions” of social-emotional learning concepts. .