Last month, the Rutherford County Library Board in Tennessee ordered Luanne James, the county’s library director, to relocate more than 100 books, including many with LGBTQ+ themes, from the children’s to the adult sections. When she refused to do so, she was fired.
But James didn’t stand alone in Rutherford’s fight for the freedom to read. Dozens of community members packed her disciplinary hearing to show their support for her, and more than 23,000 emails condemning the order flooded the inboxes of library board members and other officials. The tremendous pushback was organized by the Rutherford County Library Alliance, a group of library advocates dedicated to preserving intellectual freedom and unrestricted access to literature.
“I think it is every American’s responsibility to stand up and fight for the Constitution, because if you don’t, who will?” said Keri Lambert, one of the alliance’s leaders.
For its intrepid efforts to lead a grassroots fight against censorship, PEN America honored the all‑volunteer alliance with the PEN/Benenson Courage Award at its Literary Gala on May 14. Two of its members, Lambert and Tatiana Silvas, accepted the award on the group’s behalf.
Underwritten by Lawrence B. and Elyse Benenson, the PEN/Benenson Courage Award is conferred on individuals who demonstrate exceptional willingness to face adversity and make sacrifices in the pursuit of defending free expression. In recent years, PEN America has presented the award to novelist Salman Rushdie, Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, and president of Wesleyan University Michael Roth.
“Every book ban that’s been reversed in this nation was reversed because somewhere, patriots like Keri Lambert and Tatiana Silvas refused to give up,” said journalist Ali Velshi, who conferred the award onto the two leaders. “These are patriots who truly understand this nation and its ideals.”
The Rutherford County Library Alliance formed in 2023 when a “decency ordinance” took effect in the city of Murfreesboro, deeming displays of homosexuality “sexual conduct.” After the ordinance shut down Pride events, Lambert and other community members began to worry about potential attacks on the representation of LGBTQ+ identities in other public spaces. They decided to show up to library board meetings, where they learned that their fears were well-founded.
“We realized just how horrific the situation was, with a board member yelling and intimidating our librarians — kicking out his chair, slamming his hands on the desk, demanding the names of which librarians put this pornography on our shelves,” Lambert said. In a clip that soon went viral, Lambert demanded a simple question of the board: “When in the history of the world have the people banning books been the good guys?”
Silvas, a high school English teacher, saw book bans affecting her classroom library in Rutherford County, where PEN America joined local students, parents, and the ACLU of Tennessee in a federal lawsuit to challenge the restriction of more than 145 books in schools.
Though Murfreesboro’s decency ordinance has since been repealed — the ACLU sued the city and won in 2024 — efforts to ban books haven’t subsided. As long as they persist, the Rutherford County Library Alliance will continue showing up to oppose them.
The group’s advocacy work has been met with little fanfare since its founding, but that changed last week, when PEN America presented Lambert, the group’s vice president, and Silvas, its communications director, with the PEN/Benenson Courage Award in front of more than 600 writers, publishers, and arts and entertainment luminaries at the American Museum of Natural History.
In her acceptance speech, Lambert emphasized that defending libraries is really about defending democracy itself. “A healthy community depends on informed citizens, open dialogue, and the freedom to explore ideas,” she said. “Libraries make all of that possible.”
Silvas then dedicated the award to James, calling her “the hero Rutherford County deserves.” “She intentionally put her job on the line to protect the right to read of every child in our community,” Silvas said. “When we win the war for the right to read, it will be by following her example.”
Before the awardees went on stage, where they received thunderous applause and a standing ovation, PEN America asked them what gave them the courage to step up for Rutherford. Since her children were born, Lambert said, she’s tried to instill one lesson more than any other into them: “Be kind.” “Essentially, I see our so-called leaders bullying a segment of our community,” she said. “What sort of mother would I be if I didn’t set the example I’ve told my children they have to live by?”
Silvas said that she sees the students she teaches as her children, and right now, she’s concerned for an especially vulnerable subsection of her classroom: her trans students. Recently, she recalled, one of them, whose family hasn’t been accepting of their identity, stumbled upon a book in their school’s library about gender identity and expression and brought it home to read.
“Their mom found it and started to read it, and then asked questions of their child to understand them better,” Silvas said. “That book essentially has saved my student’s life and saved the relationship that they have with their family going forward. How could I not continue to fight for access to books like that for my kids?”
