Library funding becomes the 'nuclear option' as the battle over books escalates

Messages on the window of the Craighead County Jonesboro Public Library in Jonesboro, Ark., urged voters to approve library funding. Local voters opted to cut the funding in half, following complaints about books that some deemed inappropriate, and the library is now struggling to stay open. (Janet Thiel/The Jonesboro Sun via AP)

The decibel level is climbing as some 20 preschoolers sprawl out on an alphabet-pattern carpet for story hour.

One toddler, who’s new to the group, is having a bit of a meltdown, so Otter Bowman, a library associate at the Daniel Boone Regional Library in Columbia, Missouri, goes for the surest trick she has and starts talking about “Junior,” the library’s bookmobile. As usual, it gets the kids’ attention and the gaggle settles down so Bowman can begin story hour.

“Hello! I’m Ducky Duckling,” she reads. “When I feel happy, I say, ‘Quack! Quack!’ ” The kids cackle and quack back.