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Posted January 14, 2005.
Houston Has a Problem with Displaying Porn Star’s Book
How to Make Love Like a Porn Star: A Cautionary Tale, by Jenna Jameson with Neil Strauss, is no longer part of the bestseller display at Houston Public Library, a fact that has nothing to do with the fact that it has dropped from the New York Times bestseller list. The steamy autobiography was removed from display by order of Mayor Bill White, who also told HPL officials to place it in the closed stacks, where it is available for checkout on request. “The mayor thinks there’s a better use of stretched public resources than buying this type of material with taxpayers’ money, but realizes there’s a larger issue here: freedom of expression and the First Amendment,” Frank Michel, director of communications for Mayor White, told American Libraries.
Michel explained that the controversy began when a patron offended by nude photos of Jameson in the book complained to city councilor Pam Holm that the dust jacket was on display on the bestseller shelf at HPL’s Robinson-Westchase branch. Holm, in turn, expressed disapproval at a January 5 council meeting. “It’s a fine line with a bestseller and what is considered pornography,” Holm said in the January 5 Houston Chronicle after the meeting. “Customers generally expect us to have books that are on the bestseller list,” HPL Director of Public Relations Sandra Fernandez told CBS affiliate KHOU-TV the next day.
As a result of the controversy, library officials will be reviewing HPL’s policy of placing bestsellers in the collection on prominent display, Michel told AL.
Posted January 14, 2005.
