North Carolina county dissolves library board for refusing to toss book about a trans kidhttps://www.advocate.com/news/north-carolina-library-dissolved-transgender 🔗Christopher Wiggins (15 Dec 2025)
A county government in central North Carolina has dissolved its entire public library board after trustees voted to keep a children's picture book about a transgender character on library shelves, turning a local book challenge into one of the most severe reprisals yet in the national campaign against LGBTQ-inclusive materials.
The Randolph County Board of Commissioners voted 3–2 last week to dismiss all members of the county library board, weeks after trustees declined to move or remove Call Me Max, a picture book about a transgender boy who asks his teacher to use his chosen name. The decision followed a public hearing that drew nearly 200 residents and revealed a community split almost evenly between those calling for the board's removal and those urging commissioners to respect the library's review process.
Library staff and trustees had reviewed the complaint earlier this fall and, in October, voted to keep the book in the children's section, concluding it complied with the county's collection policies, local CBS affiliate WFMY reported. Commissioners nonetheless moved to dissolve the nine-member board outright — a step allowed under North Carolina law but rarely taken.
Kasey Meehan, director of the Freedom to Read program at PEN America, told The Washington Post that Randolph County's decision is among the harshest penalties she has seen imposed over a single title.
"It's a pretty dramatic response to wanting to have diverse and inclusive books on shelves," Meehan said.
