Book ‘Em

In Little v. Llano County, , the en banc Fifth Circuit held that decisions by public libraries, about what books to include or remove from their collections, are government speech that is not subject to a First Amendment challenge. (Here is a list of the books at issue, with links to where they can be purchased.)

The majority reasoned that while the First Amendment protects individuals’ rights to receive information from other private parties, it does not create a right to demand that the government provide access to specific information or books through its libraries.

A dissent argued that the First Amendment protects the public’s right to access information and ideas in public libraries, and warned about government officials removing books from libraries because of dislike for their content: ”By eliminating the public’s right to challenge government censorship of public library books, our court’s holding becomes a Trojan horse for the government speech doctrine that fails to command a majority in its own name.” No. 23-50224 (May 23, 2025).