A group of citizens started by a couple (the “married, one male one female variety”) in Montgomery County Texas, Tommy and Sheila Taylor are re-introducing a protest against a selection of books in the Houston area public libraries, books focused almost exclusively on sexuality and homosexuality. The group hails back to 2001 and 2002, when they first approached the library system with their complaints, previously mentioned in another LIS News article.
The library critics have re-activated to try again to get certain books that they consider objectionable off the shelves (including the wonderful guide to sex for young and pre-teens, “It’s Perfectly Normal” by Robie Harris). Library system director Jerilynn Williams said that since the committee does not have time to review all the books, they have decided to re-review three books a month starting in the second or third week in August. Here’s the story from the Houston Community Newspapers .
In just the past five weeks, an estimated 16 books have been submitted for review, with most of the titles listed on the group’s new website . The group even posts a warning that you must be at least 18 years old to enter their site, as the titles and descriptions include profanity, explicit sexual content and graphic violence. Here ’tis :
So, if you’re over 18, check the little box and dive in (you wild and crazy perverts!!!!!!!) You might just learn something.
Copyright violation?
At the end of the page, there’s a note that the excerpts fall within the “fair use” clause of the USC. But one can only wonder about the moral rights of the authors and illustrators, given all the ‘*’s and black boxes. I’m pretty sure that the authors would not approve of the expurgation of their works.
Oh my god!
SHOCKED! YES SHOCKED AM I THAT THE LIBRARY WOULD HAVE SUCH… SUCH FILTH ON THEIR SHELVES!
So we should remove all books referencing sex and sex acts and sexuality from the shelves. All the Harlequin Romances, they gotta go! Especially those Silhouette Desire books! My god! The language! The sex! Oh and the Harlequin Blaze is the worst! Nothing but raw sex and filth! The children might read them! What would we do!
And let’s not stop there! All those smutty Nora Roberts books have to leave! No more Hemingway either! We’ve gotta lose that Tracy Lords autobiography too, along with Larry Flynt’s book. And then there’s Those Who Trespass! That Bill O’Reilly may be a conservative mouthpiece now, but he went too far with the vividly described oral sex scene in that book!
And then there’s that bastion of filth and sex and violence. That one book that has it all. It’s got bigotry, both racial and religious. It’s got violence and war and torture! It’s got sex and incest and homosexual acts! It’s got cruelty to animals! It’s got counter culture attitudes that push us to question authority! It’s got murder of family and infants! It’s gotta go! We gotta get rid of…
The Bible!
Re:Copyright violation?
Oh come now. It’s obvious that the Library Patrons of Texas could give a s**t what those stupid f**king authors think.
being rational
“Montgomery County citizens, parents, taxpayers and elected officials are entitled to the truth. Examine excerpts contained herein from books currently found in the juvenile and young adult collections of the Montgomery County, Texas public library to which children have unrestricted access. Good decision making begins with accurate and complete information.”
That was from their main page. The fact that they are focusing on the YA and Children’s section takes the teeth out of any complaints about any controversial books in the adult section. They also offer this rather enlightened motto:
“They are your children. It is your tax dollars. It is your library. You are entitled to know.”
To any librarian who has ever complained about the public’s lack of interest in the library, well, here you go.