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Libraries
Warsaw, Indiana
The Warsaw (Indiana) Community Public Library Board supported librarians’ decision to retain Jacob’s Room to Choose (2019) by Sarah Hoffman and Ian Hoffman, a picture book that deals with transgender bathroom issues, in the children’s section of the library.
At a board meeting on November 18, 2019, Board Vice President Jill Beehler inquired about a complaint after reading about it in documentation provided by the Warsaw Public Library for the board meeting.
Director Ann Zydek said the proper paperwork was submitted by the person who complained, and the library decided not to remove the book.
There is a form a person has to fill out to get the library to consider removing a book, Zydek said. One of the requirements for the book to be considered for removal is the person has to have read the book.
Assistant Director Joni Brookins said what people complain about goes in cycles, and most people do not go past complaining at the circulation desk once they find out the process of getting the book reviewed.
Zydek said that after the library looks at a complaint, books that are complained about may be moved.
Brookins said a book has never been put behind the circulation desk because of a complaint made against it. Reported in: Times Union, November 18, 2019.
Schools
Ocala, Florida
The Marion County School Board on August 24, 2019, voted 4-1 to support Superintendent Heidi Maier’s decision to retain nine books that the Florida Citizens’ Alliance and a group called “It’s Your Tea Party” had advocated removing from school libraries. Their complaint, sent to the county school superintendent in February 2019, claimed that the books included graphic sexual content that bordered on obscenity and pornography, as well as racial slurs and other provocative content (seeJIFP, Summer 2019, page 13).
The challenged books are:
* Almost Perfect (2009) by Brian Katcher
* Angela’s Ashes (1996) by Frank McCourt
* The Awakening (1899) by Kate Chopin
* Beloved (1987) by Toni Morrison
* The Bluest Eye (1970) by Toni Morrison
* A Clockwork Orange (1962) by Anthony Burgess
* Dreaming in Cuban (1992) by Cristina Garcia
* Killing Mr. Griffin (1978) by Lois Duncan
* The Women of Brewster’s Place