Re: “Book battles are raging nationwide. A WA library could be nation’s first to close” [Aug. 13, Local News]:

I taught children for 47 years (primary, middle and high school science). My first reaction to reading about a vote to close the library in Dayton was unprintable. My second reaction was Heinrich Heine’s: “Those who burn books will in the end burn people.” Here’s my third: Those who ban books violate democracy, freedom and human minds.

I taught many LGBTQ+ students. Being barred from free access to information is one of many harms that stigmatize their identities and their normal questions about who they are. That harm includes higher suicide risk. Accurate information does not “sexualize” children; it is not “grooming”; it is not “pornography.”

Those who wish to close the Dayton library said books on sexual, gender (and race!) topics were “too accessible to kids.” The library moved the books to make them less accessible; that didn’t satisfy. Said the leader of this move to close, “Now it’s up to unincorporated Columbia County to decide what our community standards are, and whether our library is an asset or a drain on our community.” That vote will exclude voters who live in the town where the library is located.

Here’s my final reaction: Can you spell F-A-S-C-I-S-M?

Melinda Mueller, Seattle