An Arkansas librarian who was fired for refusing to censor children’s books has claimed her First Amendment rights were violated in a newly filed lawsuit.
Patty Hector, 64, was the director of the Saline County Library when County Judge Matthew Brumley made the call to have her terminated in October 2023.
The Saline County Quorum Court passed a resolution demanding libraries make sure that ‘materials contained within the children’s section of the library are subject matter and age appropriate’ in April that same year.
The seasoned librarian was an avid adversary of the decision and criticized the court for trying to prohibit or limit access to books deemed inappropriate.
Her job did not appear to be in jeopardy at first, as the library board supported her and would not remove her from her position.
In the meantime, community members began rallying against Hector and her anti-censorship stance, with some even going as far as to post billboards that urged for her to be fired.
But in August 2023, the court was given the power to terminate the library board’s personnel, THV11 reported. Brumley fired Hector two months later because she was ‘no longer needed by the county.’
‘Standing up against censorship should never cost someone their job,’ John Williams, the Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said in a statement.
Patty Hector, 64, has filed a lawsuit, claiming her First Amendment rights were violated when she was fired in October 2023
The seasoned librarian was an avid adversary of the decision and criticized the court for trying to prohibit or limit access to books deemed inappropriate
‘Ms. Hector was fired for defending the right to read freely and for refusing to let political pressure dictate the operation of a public library.
‘Retaliation against her for speaking out on these critical issues is not only unconstitutional – it’s an attack on the principles of free expression and access to information that public libraries stand for.’
Arkansas’ ACLU filed the suit on Hector’s behalf. The document alleges ‘Hector was unlawfully fired in retaliation for her outspoken opposition to censorship efforts, a violation of her First Amendment rights,’ the organization wrote.
In the filing, Hector is demanding that the county and Brumley acknowledge that her constitutional rights were violated.
She is also requesting compensatory damages for lost wages and emotional anguish.
Hector argued in a statement: ‘I’ve spent my career fostering access to diverse perspectives and ensuring that public libraries are places where everyone feels seen and supported.
‘I could not stay silent as calls for censorship targeted marginalized communities and undermined our library’s mission. Losing my job was devastating, but I refuse to let these actions go unchallenged.’
Beyond her personal circumstances, the lawsuit opposes the ordinance that gave Brumley the authority over the Saline County Library in the first place.
Community members rallied against Hector and her anti-censorship stance, with some even going as far as to post billboards that urged for her to be fired
County Judge Matthew Brumley fired Hector after gaining jurisdiction over the library system
‘This case goes beyond one person — it sets a precedent for public employees statewide,’ the ACLU wrote in an outline of the complaint.
‘Teachers, librarians, and other professionals should not have to choose between their livelihoods and their duty to serve the public’s right to access information.
‘Censorship in libraries is a direct threat to democracy, and the ACLU of Arkansas is committed to fighting back.’
Brumley declined to discuss the lawsuit, telling DailyMail.com ‘we do not comment on pending litigation.’
The DailyMail.com has reached out to the Saline County Library and Hector for comment.
In a video titled ‘Librarian Gets Real About Book Banning and Campaigning,’ Hector spoke about why she is against book-banning and censorship.
Hector recalled working in a library in the 1990s when the Harry Potter books were ‘challenged’. She said the books were moved behind a desk, so readers had to ask for them instead of just grabbing the books themselves.
‘The Western District of Arkansas Judge said «that’s banning a book and that’s against the First Amendment»,’ she said.
Hector said her anti-censorship stance was based in a court decision from the 1990s regarding a limitation on Harry Potter books
Hector was the director of the Saline County Library before she lost her job
‘It’s frustrating to me that I have court precedents for this stance and I’m still criticized for it and of course, [I was] eventually fired.’
The video was actually part of Hector’s surprising campaign for a seat on the Saline County Quorum Court in 2024.
Hector, who ran as a Democrat, lost by a landslide to her Republican opponent Karen Crowson, the Arkansas Times reported.
Upon losing, she told the outlet: ‘I don’t know if the library issue was even a factor. I know that Hot Springs Village is very, very Republican.’
The US District Court for the Western District of Arkansas declared book-banning unconstitutional in December 2024, according to the American Library Association.
Arkansas Act 372 would have allowed librarians and bookstore owners to be criminally prosecuted for having ‘harmful’ materials available to minors.
The law being shot down came after several libraries, authors, booksellers and other concerned parties sued the state, Crawford County and Judge Chris Keith.
According to the complaint, Crawford County was specifically named in the suit because the county had allegedly already started to ‘to segregate constitutionally protected materials in the Crawford County Library.’
In 2024, Hector ram for a seat on the Saline County Quorum Court, the same court that ultimately fired her
Jodi Picoult’s Nineteen Minutes, which is about a school shooting, was the most frequently blocked piece of literature in schools during the 2023 to 2024 school year
From July 2023 to June 2024, PEN America, a nonprofit group that advocates for writers and the protection of free speech, recorded more than 10,000 instances of book bans across 29 different states and 220 public school districts.
PEN America wrote: ‘Since 2021, several titles have been banned year after year across public school districts. These titles largely include depictions of sex, or feature LBGTQ+ people and characters, or people and characters of color.’
During the school year between 2023 and 2024, the organization reported that 19 book were totally prohibited for students across 50 or more US school districts.
More than 4,000 books were affected by bans. About 45 percent of these instances took place in Florida and 36 percent in Iowa, according to organization data.
Jodi Picoult’s Nineteen Minutes, which is about a school shooting, was the most frequently blocked piece of literature in schools.
