Editing Dayton, Washington (section)

==Education==
The city's public school system is managed by the Dayton School District, which covers the vast majority of Columbia County.<ref>{{cite map|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/PL20/st53_wa/schooldistrict_maps/c53013_columbia/DC20SD_C53013.pdf|title=2020 Census – School District Reference Map: Columbia County, WA|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=2023-08-14}}</ref>

A library within the city is operated by the Columbia County Rural Library District. People living in Dayton are in the library's taxation base, but not in the library's voting base; the voting area for the library only consists of [[unincorporated areas]].<ref name=Gutman>{{cite news |last=Gutman |first=David |date=August 13, 2023 |title=Book battles are raging nationwide. A WA library could be nation's first to close |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/book-battles-are-raging-nationwide-a-wa-library-could-be-nations-first-to-close/ |work=[[The Seattle Times]] |accessdate=August 14, 2023}}</ref> The library was established in 1919 as a small reading room while a women's civics club fundraised for a permanent building. The raised funds were transferred to the Dayton city government in 1935 and used to construct a [[public library]] in 1937 using [[New Deal]] funding; the building was later expanded in 1947.<ref>{{cite news |last=Smith |first=Kate |date=July 2, 2023 |title=Dayton Memorial Library through the years |url=https://www.union-bulletin.com/dayton-memorial-library-through-the-years/article_fc369be2-16d4-11ee-abce-13b1da709f1d.html |work=[[Walla Walla Union-Bulletin]] |accessdate=August 14, 2023}}</ref>

It is the only [[public library]] in Columbia County. A ballot measure submitted in 2023 proposed to close the rural library district, and therefore the library itself, entirely due to the placement and availability of children's books on racial issues and [[LGBT]] topics; amid then-ongoing [[2021–2023 book banning in the United States|book banning efforts in the United States]], the library would have been the first one nationwide to close over such a dispute if it succeeded, according to the [[American Library Association]]. The library collection would be received by the [[Washington State Library]] if the rural library district was dissolved.<ref name=Gutman/> The initiative was ruled unconstitutional in September 2023 by the Columbia County Superior Court due to its exclusion of voters in incorporated areas; the ruling blocked the initiative from appearing on the November 2023 ballot.<ref>{{cite news |last=Gutman |first=David |date=September 20, 2023 |title=Embattled WA library wins lawsuit, won't shut down after book-ban fight |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/embattled-wa-library-wins-lawsuit-wont-shut-down-after-fight-over-books/ |work=The Seattle Times |accessdate=September 20, 2023}}</ref>