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Montgomery County Receives 16 Book ChallengesA respite from more than three years of challenges to the book selection policies of Montgomery County (Tex.) Memorial Library System ended rather emphatically this summer with the filing of 16 requests for reconsideration—15 since mid-June. The complainants “have a right to their opinion,” Library Director Jerilynn A. Williams said in the July 27 Conroe Courier, adding, “We support their rights to choose books for their children to read.”The objections to the 16 books, mostly consisting of young-adult fiction with a gay-positive theme, are posted at the Library Patrons of Texas website, whose launch was announced at a July 26 press conference by activists Sheila and Tommy Taylor. The language describing the books is similar to those posted at the website of the Fairfax County, Virginia–based Parents Against Bad Books in Schools, to which Library Patrons of Texas links, according to the Courier. “It seems to be a concerted effort,” Williams commented. To date, the committee has considered the Taylors’ challenges to The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky and The Sissy Duckling by Harvey Fierstein, neither of which were removed or restricted. The other 14 titles are:
The Library Patrons of Texas site claims it “does not advocate censorship,” but favors “local control of taxpayer-funded libraries and responsible age-appropriate selection, classification, and access policies sensitive to local community standards and values.” Posted July 30, 2004. |
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