How we got here
Young was originally terminated Jan. 29, according to previous Community Impact reporting, following concerns voiced from residents at Commissioners Court meetings regarding the amount of conservative and LGBTQ+ literature available within the county's library system.
Following her termination, Young's daughter Evan Young took to social media to request support from the community. A GoFundMe campaign for Young was also started, and as of publication time it has raised $15,495 to support Young's family following her termination.
The cause
Young went before commissioners Feb. 11 to request she be reinstated as library director before the county officially publishes notice to seek a new director.
"As a librarian, my duty has always been to protect everyone's right to read and to uphold democratic values and free speech," Young said. "I carried out those duties with integrity, and that includes your blank directive to move questionable and explicit material to restricted areas. I was left to define and enforce restrictions based on my personal interpretation of 'questionable' and 'explicit.' I'm a librarian because I believe in providing unfettered access to materials that empower individuals to grow, learn and connect with the world. Everyone deserves the freedom to explore knowledge without barriers."
A number of county residents also spoke out against her termination.
The action taken
Precinct 2 Commissioner Charlie Riley requested the discussion of Young's termination be moved to executive session for commissioners to discuss in private. Commissioners did not publicly elaborate on the reasons for their decision. However, commissioners later voted 4-1 to uphold the termination of Young and seek a new director, with Riley voting in favor of reinstating Young.
"I'm not gonna get into the employee discussions, but I just wanted to be known that I am not in favor of [terminating Young]," Riley said.
