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Patron’s Anger Aroused by Library’s Sex-Manual Selection“The Marple Library is the porn capital of Delaware and Chester counties,” declared patron Jack Whoriskey January 13 at a meeting of some 75 Delaware County, Pennsylvania–area residents who gathered to brainstorm what to do about the library’s seven books on sexuality. Noting that the nearby Tredyffrin Township Library keeps its copy of The Joy of Sex in the director’s office, Whoriskey told the group that Tredyffrin staffers “told me they would not keep it on the shelves, but in Marple you are proud of it.” The controversy began in late 2003 when Whoriskey went to the library in search of a book about the Atkins diet. Discovering several books on sexuality in the browsing section next to the Atkins-related title, he borrowed Violet Blue’s Ultimate Guide to Fellatio and returned the next day to check out six others. He showed them to Delaware County Council members, state legislators representing the area, and Kathy Coll of the Pro-Life Coalition’s local chapter, explaining in the January 8 Delaware County Daily Times that the books are “all pornographic and there is no way they should be in a public library with my tax dollars.” Coll quickly became an ally. “It is very natural for our organization to fight pornography, as it is the antithesis of a life-supportive society,” she told the Times. At the January 13 meeting, attorney Tom Paschos suggested that it was a logical extension to apply to other formats the Supreme Court’s 2003 approval of Internet filters to protect minors from sexually explicit material. Coll recommended that individuals contact their clergy and elected officials, and withhold library donations or organize a peaceful protest. Posted January 15, 2004. |
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