Librarian fired for stand on novel
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Anna “Jeanne” Layton, 77, a Utah librarian who grabbed national headlines in 1979 when she was fired for refusing to pull the novel “Americana” from the shelves, died Jan. 19 of natural causes in Kaysville, Utah.
County officials said the book -- Don DeLillo’s first novel -- was obscene and demanded it be pulled from the shelves. When Layton twice refused, the library board fired her.
Layton filed a lawsuit after her dismissal, and a federal judge ruled that it was up to the county Merit Council to determine if there was cause for the firing. The council decided in her favor, and she was ordered reinstated in December 1979.
“It’s not the library’s role to determine choice for adults,” Layton told the Salt Lake Tribune in 1990. “It’s important for the library to serve everyone in the community, not just select groups.”
A lifelong resident of Kaysville, Layton received a degree in library science and a master’s degree from the University of Utah. She served as director of the Davis County Libraries for more than 30 years.
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