Public Library To Open In Polygamous Community After Sect Leaders Prevented It
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A public library is set to open next year in a polygamous town on the Utah-Arizona border that hasn't had one for decades because of controlling sect leaders who try to limit followers' exposure to the outside world.
The library is expected to open in March 2016, Washington County Library System director Joel Tucker said. The plan is to put the library in an old schoolhouse the center of town, near the public school and town hall in Hildale, Utah.
The community is dominated by a polygamous sect led by jailed leader Warren Jeffs. He and other sect leaders try to limit members' exposure to the outside world by prohibiting Internet and books.
The community used to have a library on the Arizona side of the town in Colorado City, but it was shuttered after Jeffs took over the group in the late 1990s, former member Isaac Wyler said.
"I think it's really going to be good for the community. Warren has been trying to keep knowledge out of this town for so long," he said. "In the end, look what's winning out."
The nearest library now is about 40 minutes away, and having easier access to information could help people in the remote community get information that's not influenced by sect leaders, Tucker said.
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