King and King Reigns in Pennsylvania
After several rounds of consideration, the board of Lower Macungie (Pa.) Library decided November 29 to keep King and King by Linda de Haan and Stern Nijland in the children’s section.
Parents Eileen and Jeff Issa asked the library to remove the book from circulation due to its homosexual content, and collected about 40 signatures from like-minded residents, the Allentown Morning Call reported November 30. “I just want kids to enjoy their innocence and their time of growing up,” Jeff Issa said. “Let them be kids and not worry about homosexuality, race, [or] religion.”
The library had previously considered and denied the Issas’ request in September. The couple then appealed to the township supervisors, who considered the matter at their November 15 meeting, but upheld the library’s decision by a 2–1 vote. Supervisor Chairman Kenneth DeAngelis, who is also president of the library board, said the supervisors did not want to micromanage the library.
Library Director Kathee Rhode said that the library provides material with a variety of views but leaves the responsibility for preventing a child from reading objectionable material to that child’s parents. “We certainly want parents to make that decision for their children—not one parent making that decision for all children,” she said.
Ironically, the controversy may result in making the book more available in the area. The Morning Call reported December 6 that the Lower Macungie Library’s decision has inspired the Pennsylvania Diversity Network in Allentown to donate copies of King and King to the public libraries in Allentown, Easton, Bethlehem, and Reading, which don’t currently carry it. The libraries have said they would wait until they receive and review the book to decide whether or not to shelve it.
Posted December 11, 2007.
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