(NEW YORK)— PEN America announced today that the Rutherford County Library Alliance, a local coalition of library advocates in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, will receive the PEN/Benenson Courage Award at the 2026 PEN America Literary Gala on May 14 at the American Museum of Natural History. The all‑volunteer alliance galvanized its community against book bans and led opposition to a library board order to remove children’s books deemed “inappropriate.” The county library director was fired for refusing to carry out the order.
Rutherford County Library Alliance formed in 2023 as a response to a “decency ordinance” in Murfreesboro that quickly became a vehicle to police which ideas and identities could appear in public spaces, including libraries, and sparked efforts to censor books with LGBTQ themes. Alliance Vice President Keri Lambert, a self-described stay‑at‑home mother and community theater actor and director, and Communications Director Tatiana Silvas, a high school English teacher, will accept the award on behalf of the group
“This award recognizes the courage of people who stepped forward when it mattered most, as the freedom to read came under attack in their own communities,” said Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf, PEN America’s co-CEO. “Keri Lambert and Tatiana Silvas organized their neighbors, spoke out in the face of intimidation, and defended books even as those efforts carried grim consequences, including the firing of a library director who believed in fair access to books.”
“These brave women represent a growing nationwide movement of everyday citizens who understand that censorship is not abstract, that it corrodes democracy, education, and young people’s right to see themselves and the world in the pages they read,” said Summer Lopez PEN America co-CEO. “The Rutherford County Library Alliance is an important reminder that power lives in our communities, with the courage of individuals who refuse to be silenced.”
PEN America has been the national leader in documenting the spread of book bans in public schools since 2021; censorship has spread over these years as well to public libraries, especially targeting LGBTQ-related books for children. PEN America has counted 23,000 instances of book bans in 45 states and 451 school districts over the last five years.
The PEN/Benenson award honors individuals for exceptional courage in defending free expression often in the face of personal danger or intense public scrutiny. Underwritten by Lawrence B. and Elyse Benenson, recent winners include 2025 honoree Wesleyan University President Michael Roth; 2024 winners Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, the mother and daughter who faced threats and racial invective for simply doing their jobs as election workers in Georgia, and 2023 recipient author Salman Rushdie.
Last month Rutherford County’s Library Board ordered Luanne James, director of the county library system, to relocate more than 100 books in its six branches from the children’s to the adult sections, where a parent’s permission is needed for access by those under 18. The books cover topics including history, gender, health, race, LGBTQ identities, diversity, equality, and sexuality; while the board’s majority deemed them “inappropriate,” James called the effort to keep them out of the hands of young people “a clear act of viewpoint discrimination.”
At a disciplinary hearing where James was fired, the Rutherford County Library Alliance, under the leadership of Lambert and Silvas, filled the hearing room with community members who spoke against the board’s order and supported James as she informed the officials: “I will not comply.”
Activating a civic network in Murfreesboro, a college town of 168,000 located 35 miles south of Nashville, the alliance circulated a petition that generated more than 23,000 emails sent to the library board and other officials protesting the order.
“We may have lost a round in our advocacy against censorship when we lost Luane’s leadership but we are not quitting,” said Lambert. “There’s too much at stake for our children who are losing access to stories and information they need to understand this world today.”
Silvas said: “This is a frightening moment for our country. As I teach my freshmen students this year about the horrors of Fahrenheit 451 and the dangers of book burnings, we are in the midst of an eruption of censorship that is undercutting one of our most cherished values- the right to read freely. How can I teach my students that reading is important if I’m not willing to fight for their first amendment right? I am proud to be part of a community that is defending this principle and pushing back against censorship. My students deserve a champion for their right to read, especially the most vulnerable among them: trans children.”
Rutherford County Library Alliance became active three years ago after its founding members became alarmed that the freedom to read was under attack in Murfreesboro. The city had enacted a so-called decency ordinance initially aimed at blocking a Pride parade but that quickly evolved into restricting LGBTQ expression in city‑funded spaces, including libraries. The ordinance ultimately sparked challenges over LGBTQ books in the library. Following a lawsuit by the ACLU of Tennessee, the ordinance was repealed. But efforts to ban or restrict books have continued as has the battle over the freedom to read. The Rutherford County Library Alliance is meeting this challenge in Tennessee by advising people around the state eager to form similar local alliances to push back on censorship.
“I think it is every American’s responsibility to stand up and fight for the Constitution because if you don’t, who will?” Lambert told a local tv news station.
In April 2025, PEN America joined three students and their parents as plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit against the Rutherford County Board of Education, challenging book removals and restrictions that violate the First Amendment rights of students to receive information and of authors to free expression.
Read more about this year’s gala and its honorees here.
BIOS
Keri Lambert has a B.Sc. in biology from Western University, but has spent most of her adult life as a stay at home mom. Her main goal in that role was to raise children who understood that everyone is equal, and kindness is a top priority. When Murfreesboro enacted their so-called “decency” ordinance, which outlawed homosexuality in public, she was concerned with how that ordinance might affect our libraries. Knowing she had to lead by example, she became a founding member of Rutherford County Library Alliance in the summer of 2023. Since this time, she has worked to be an ally to all libraries in Rutherford County, both school and public.
Tatiana Silvas serves on the board of the Rutherford County Library Alliance as Communications Director, where she champions free speech and advocates for the protection of intellectual freedom in local libraries. In addition to her work with the Alliance, she is a core member of the leadership team of Murfreesboro Indivisible, helping to drive record-breaking turnout at community events and civic actions. Silvas holds a Bachelor of Arts in English Education from Middle Tennessee State University and teaches at Stewarts Creek High School in Smyrna, Tennessee.
About the Rutherford County Library Alliance
On July 1st, 2023 the City of Murfreesboro passed Ordinance 23-0-22, better known as the “decency ordinance”. We want to ensure that this ordinance doesn’t result in censorship, that the library continues to follow the American Library Association’s (ALA) standard of allowing free and fair access to information for all, regardless of origin, age, background, or views; and that our library staff are supported and feel safe while serving our community, free of illicit pressure by politicians. We trust the highly educated library professionals to use their training and expertise in developing and maintaining Rutherford County Library System’s collection. We also trust individuals to make their own reading choices for themselves and their families.
About PEN America
PEN America stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect free expression in the United States and worldwide. We champion the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world. Our mission is to unite writers and their allies to celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible. Learn more at pen.org.
Contact: Suzanne Trimel, [email protected], 201-247-5057