Within a week after ALA Annual Conference ended, Immediate Past President Sarah Ann Long had received some 400 letters protesting the inclusion of a program titled “Erotica in Libraries,” sponsored by the Alternatives in Print Task Force of the Social Responsibilities Round Table. The letter writers were apparently inspired by Focus on the Family, whose July 13 Family News in Focus e-newsletter included an article titled “Librarians Discuss Stocking Erotica.” In it, staff writer Dave Clark urged readers to express to Long “your opposition to the fact that [ALA] is even considering sanctioning the stocking of erotica on library shelves,” citing the “workshop” as “evidence.”
On Long’s behalf, ALA Associate Executive Director Peggy Barber sent a response emphasizing that “the discussion of one [ALA] group of members does not represent a policy position of the Association,” which is comprised of people “with just about as many opinions and points of view as exist in our world today.”
Clark also urged readers to “find out your library’s position on acquiring erotica . . . and express your opposition to the idea.”
Posted July 24, 2000.