For 15 years, LaVonnia Moore managed the Pierce County Public Library in southeast Georgia. Last summer, she lost her job after letting a local family’s book choice appear in a children’s reading display.

The display was part of Georgia’s statewide summer reading program, themed “Color Our World.” Moore invited families to pick colorful books from the library’s own shelves. One family chose When Aidan Became a Brother, an award-winning picture book about a transgender boy, and Moore said yes. “I wasn’t going to tell the kid no,” she told The Advocate. About two weeks later, on June 18, 2025, the Three Rivers Regional Library System fired her.

Moore has now filed a federal lawsuit. It alleges that Pierce County commissioners directed the library system to fire her after an activist complained about the book, and that the system went along to avoid losing county money. The library system has declined to comment.

Wherever people stand on any one book, a small-town library should not lose a trusted, longtime librarian because of political pressure. Library workers need to know their jobs depend on serving the public well, not on whether county officials approve of a display. Funding threats should never decide who works at a public library.

The Three Rivers Regional Library System Board of Trustees can reinstate Moore right now. The Pierce County Board of Commissioners can publicly commit to keeping county funding separate from library staffing and book decisions.

Sign the petition to bring LaVonnia Moore back to her library and keep politics out of who gets hired and fired in Pierce County.