A Montgomery County public librarian is out of a job—terminated by the county judge and commissioners. She says she still doesn’t know why she was let go.
HOUSTON — A place once known for quiet reading and learning has now become a political flashpoint. A Montgomery County public librarian was terminated by the county judge and commissioners. She says she never saw it coming.
A librarian for 23 years, Rhea Young spent the last two and a half in Montgomery County. Last week, she was suddenly out of a job. She saw her own name on the county agenda.
County Commissioners discussed her employment during executive session on January 28. And move to appoint the judge as the interim director. That afternoon Young says she was fired. When she asked why?
“His reply was that I knew why,” said Young. “I do not know why. He reiterated it was in the best interest of the county to terminate my employment at this time.”
When asked for comment, the county judge’s office responded with this statement saying:
“The future of the Library system is vital to me and I will immediately begin a nationwide search for a new Library Director that shares the values of the community and respects the direction of Commissioners Court who represents the people of this county.”
“I feel like the termination was not justified I feel angry,” said Young.
This isn’t the first time her job has been at risk. Community members raised concerns about Young in 2023 and 2024.
“I had found over 100 books teaching gender ideology,” said one resident during public comment at commissioners court.
Some residents wanted specific books removed from the county public library.
“Anything with LGBT or sexual,” said another resident during county commissioners court.
The county revisited its policy on reviewing library books and asked Young to remove certain titles by creating a new “Parenting” section, which houses sensitive books that parents may not want their children to access independently. The library then did not allow anyone under 18 to checkout these books.
“I needed to make sure questionable or explicit material removed from children section and placed in adult section and restricted to adult check out only,” said Young.
Young said she followed the instructions to the best of her knowledge, but they never clearly specified which books should be placed in the restricted area. Young said the county never provided guidelines.
The library policy requires children under 13 to be accompanied by a parent.
A group of concerned parents wanted to place more conservative books in the library. Young said the companies that sell the requested books were not on the county’s approved vendor list. Those books were paperback, which aren’t typically purchased by libraries because they are less durable in children’s hands.
Several books were donated to the county. But once they were lost or ripped they were not replaced by the county.
She said she updated commissioners on those projects but never received any feedback.
We’ve contacted the County Judge’s chief of staff multiple times via email, phone, and text message since Tuesday for more information on the firing but received no response.
One of Young’s former students created a crowdfunding account for her.
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