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Eric M
ericmonster
14 April 2006 @ 01:26 am
Good grief, Charlie Brown! Family stunned by porn comics at library  
I didn't make that up, that's really the headline on this article: "16-year-old Matt Jones checked out a book from the Victorville public library entitled, "Manga: Sixty years of Japanese comics," ... [it] contains some X-rated cartoons depicting graphic sexual acts, including sex with animals. ... His mother, Cynthia Jones, was horrified. ... Cynthia Jones, who considers herself and her two kids devout Christians, wrote a letter to the county library system asking them to remove the book. ... County Library Collection Development Coordinator Nannette Bricker-Barret said that it is not up to the library system to determine what under age members should view. 'It is the parents' responsibility since the library does not act as a parent,' Barret said. ... Barret said that since the book was purchased about a year ago, it has been correctly placed in the adult collection."

Yes, it's the age-old "Since I can't keep my own kids from looking at art and literature meant for adults, I don't want anyone to have art and literature meant for adults" theory. You know what? If all you want to do is read ancient biblical tales of gang rape and women being butchered, that's your choice, but don't pretend you get to make it for everyone else, too.

UPDATE: Kenzilla dropped this update in comments: "Following a Daily Press article, First District Supervisor Bill Postmus on Wednesday ordered county libraries to remove a Japanese comic book that contained pornographic cartoons. ... 'This book is absolutely inappropriate for a public library and as soon as I was made aware of it, I ordered it to be removed,' Postmus said."
 
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Dr. Kenzilla[info]kenzilla on April 14th, 2006 02:15 am (UTC)
check out this followup.

i hate people.
good thing i'm going to be operating on them

http://www.vvdailypress.com/2006/114493343435896.html
Eric M[info]ericmonster on April 14th, 2006 02:51 am (UTC)
Argh. Thanks for posting the bad news ...
Dr. Kenzilla[info]kenzilla on April 14th, 2006 03:00 am (UTC)
What pisses me off the most is that it's happening in California, of all places. While it is Bumblefuck Eastern California, it still pisses me off...
gwalla: halloween[info]gwalla on April 14th, 2006 09:14 pm (UTC)
Barstow is a little island of the Deep South in the middle of the California desert.

When they go to take the temperature of the world, they will stick the rectal thermometer in Barstow.
~``*Lilithe*``~: Entertainment/Music/Etc[info]lilitheraine on April 14th, 2006 02:24 am (UTC)
Oiy, am I going to get reprimanded for drawing characters performing sexual activities on each other? Again? It isnt explicit, just implied.


For pity's sake..... Japan is not as sexually repressed as the USA is and that isnt bad that they're a sexually open-minded society....
Billy Sajdera[info]sajdera on April 14th, 2006 05:49 am (UTC)
Japanese society sure does have the super-healthiest sexual mores, yepper!
Eric M[info]ericmonster on April 14th, 2006 09:49 pm (UTC)
At least they don't have the obsession with Asian chicks that Americans seem to have.
hcenvirons[info]hcenvirons on April 14th, 2006 02:47 am (UTC)
Yeah! I'm pissed because my kids were in the adults only section! Punish the library and society, not my own kids! Besides, I'll just give mah boy a book about violence and murder. Better he see blood and guts than tits and nuts.
Silver Adept[info]silveradept on April 14th, 2006 02:58 am (UTC)
[Charlie Brown]AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH![/Charlie Brown]

No, no, no, no, no, no, NO! (Maama Mia, Mamma Mia...)

Goddamit, the library is a place where people are allowed to view things that might be dangerous to their current mindsets. If a parent wants to make sure his or her kids don't see anything objectionable, then it's their responsibility to see all of what their kids read. And if they don't like what the kids are reading, they can return the book to the library and tell their kids about why they don't like it.

The library is a dangerous place for children. There is a strong likelihood they will come across an idea that challenges their current views. It is unacceptable for a parent or a government to force a library to stop doing its job because someone is offended. Someone will always be offended.
hcenvirons[info]hcenvirons on April 14th, 2006 03:53 am (UTC)
I had to go get a copy of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from my local library for a school assignment. Can I have that book removed for its racism? I mean, it says "nigger" 215 times! It *HAS* To be racist!!
Alobar Greywalker: Guillotine[info]alobar on April 14th, 2006 04:30 am (UTC)
When librarians bow to censorship, they need to be publicly flogged and spend a weekend in the stocks to give them time to reconsider the errors in their behavior. If that does not work, I suggest the guillotine.
Silver Adept[info]silveradept on April 14th, 2006 04:24 pm (UTC)
Those that do so willingly, perhaps. More often than not, though, they must bow to the pressure because their purses can't afford the cost of replacing books, or the people who fund them tell them how they have to dance before they can get necessary money to their operations. In a perfect world, the library can fly the bird at anyone who wants to censor them. We just hope that perfect world becomes real soon.
Alobar Greywalker[info]alobar on April 14th, 2006 04:41 pm (UTC)
People who put ethics aside for "practical reasons" are people I scorn I disparage.
Silver Adept[info]silveradept on April 14th, 2006 04:58 pm (UTC)
I don't condone it, certainly, and I sincerely hope it never happens that I'm put in such a position in my professional life. It may just happen that at a particular juncture, to exact an effective revenge, one must at least go through the motions of compliance. I would expect that book to be off the shelves when the edict is delivered, and then when all the morons are gone, it be placed on the reshelving cart and put back.
Shawboy: [info]shawboy on April 14th, 2006 05:01 am (UTC)
That's crap!
Andre'[info]jeepersjournal on April 14th, 2006 05:10 am (UTC)
Their Collection Developement probably covered things, but nefarious political agendas tend to undermine things. I'm constantly depressed by the level of non-parenting today's parents insist on.
Dave: hate[info]toddandpenguin on April 14th, 2006 05:10 am (UTC)
In order to protect the public, the library should probably just go ahead and remove anything that might offend anyone.
ever.
Speaking of which, the Bible is full of offensive things.
Might I suggest a bonfire?
Billy Sajdera[info]sajdera on April 14th, 2006 05:51 am (UTC)
As long as it includes How To Talk To A Liberal.