"Whadabout me?!!!"
Posted on 07/07/2010 1:38:38 PM PDT by MissTed
A Japanese serial graphic novel genre popular with young teens has raised the ire of a Crestview mother whose teenage son got hold of an adult version of the genre from the Crestview Public Library.
“Manga” depicts highly stylized adventure and, occasionally, violence in fantasy settings.
Margaret Barbaree, founder of a citizens’ group called Protect Our Children, presented examples from a manga book to the Crestview City Council last week that she described as “graphic” and “shocking,” taken from material she said is “available to children” at the Crestview Public Library.
“My son lost his mind when he found this,” Barbaree said of the manga book from which her examples were taken.
She said her son had removed the book unsupervised from the library’s general stacks last summer and put it in his backpack. She has kept it ever since.
“Now he’s in a home for extensive therapy,” she said.
Several months ago, Barbaree had circulated a petition bearing 226 signatures of citizens protesting the availability of manga, which she mistakenly referred to as “anime,” or Japanese animation.
However, the library said some patrons complained they were misled when they signed the petition.
“They told us she (Barbaree) approached them at the Christmas parade and asked them to sign a petition protesting pornography in the library,” said Resource Librarian Sandra Dreaden.
Barbaree said Library Director Jean Lewis explained to her that there is a demand for manga, and that the library strives to meet the needs of its patrons.
City Council President Charles Baugh Jr. assured Barbaree that “we have safeguards in place to protect our children and we have committees that review library purchases so they meet the standards of the (American) Library Association.”
The books that concerned Barbaree “are in the library for those who wish to partake of them and they are in a section of the library” for adult patrons, said Baugh, who visited the library himself the day after the council meeting and said he found the manga available in the young adult section perfectly innocuous.
“We follow up with our citizens’ concerns,” Baugh said after meeting with library staff and viewing the young adult manga.
Baugh also confirmed that the book Barbaree’s son had taken was in the general stacks well away from the children’s and young adult books.
“Our library is well managed and well staffed,” Baugh told Barbaree while assuring her, “I am a family man and I understand what you are saying.”
Lewis said the manga available in the young adult section of the library is oriented toward young teen readers and does not contain the adult themes of the book Barbaree’s son took. That book had been in the general stacks, on a top shelf in a section with other graphic novels and comic books not geared toward young readers.
“We have policies and procedures in place to prevent underage children from accessing those materials,” Baugh said.
Read my posting in this thread about the ALA’s position. To the American Library Ass. there is NO wrong section of the library for minors.
And they are adamant that they will not keep materials out of a library because a minor may stumble on them or check them out.
Yet a retailer providing access to minors for adults only materials WOULD be subject to criminal prosecution. The inmates run the asylum.
"Whadabout me?!!!"
The library doesn't have an "adult" section. It messes up their Dewey Decimal shelving.
See the ALA's own stance on this matter. All materials are accessible to everyone of every age and no materials should be rejected merely because a minor may have access.
You may be right, I haven’t been to that library. I have been to two others in the same county-wide system, both with very distinct children’s sections. In fact they have young children’s, and teens, quite separate from the adult sections. I would assume based on that that this library does indeed have an adult section.
You will find a section for childrens’ books, but no “adults only” section.
You may find a glass case for expensive books or books which are commonly vandalized (including explicit photo books where someone just wants to keep one page).
I’m not even opposed to different materials being in a library. My issue is with the ALA’s stance on minors’ access to materials which is contrary to established law.
Also, not every item in a library gets shelf space. Here in Houston, they warehouse books upstairs if they are not as frequently accessed or for other reasons. If you do the research and put in the request, the books will be retreived for you. It may not even happen in less than a week.
But if you use the interlibrary loan system, and are not even visiting the downtown branch, waiting for a book to be delivered isn’t unusual.
You are right. I am wrong. Boy, do I feel pwnd.
Well you did say “relatively sane” so my response may not apply. Having a billion dollars has no correlation to sanity.
I’m not quite sure what the difference is between keeping the kids’ books in a specific section, which is what I see, and having an “adults’ only” section, like you’re talking about. Are you saying librarians need to check ids to let people browse the stacks? Let’s not argue about checking out materials because that’s a different matter, you’re refering to “sections” in the library.
And I think parents should supervise their children’s library access. If Mom scans through books BEFORE the kid goes to check them out, then we have nothing to throw fits about.
R-rated and NC-17 and X films are offlimits to minors. Yet they can rent the DVDs (and you will find some X dvds, some may have been rerated NC-17 on submission for re-rating after their original 70s release, some X tapes of things like the Passolini videotapes remain in some libraries).
Since all of those are “pulled” by the librarian, it’s possible to ask for ID (or have restrictions on library cards to check them out).
Bookstores may have a “top shelf” for some materials, but they don’t prohibit 18+ materials. But they sure aren’t dumb enough to sell such materials to minors because they know that they face arrest if they do.
<..sigh..> You are correct, I fear.
c my post above
Amazing. There are many books that have left an indelible mark on my psyche, but I’ve never thought I needed therapy afterwards, LOL!
Here in Georgia, the state tells us what is pornography and and what is not. If it is, we can’t buy it, if not, then it’s ok.
We do have a number of Magna/Anime books in the Teen department here and a very large Graphic Novel section in the Adult department. Occasionally things will get through that are inappropriate for children. If we don’t see it, our customers are VERY quick to point them out. We have, and most libraries have, a procedure to challenge any item in the library. If you don’t like an item, challenge it, don’t steal it.
There is a big difference between a comic book and a Graphic Novel, mostly in the quality of the art work and story line.
That is my opinion too, and probably true.
So she sues the "public," the taxpayers (deep pockets) via the public library.
If I read the story correctly, the kid STOLE the book.
To illustrate the absurdity of the action, had the kid burglarized a neighbor and stolen the book, could the neurotic opportunist sue the neighbor?
Then you need to get out more.
Every Public library has practiced politically correct censorship (thanks to the pervert deathgrip on society,) for decades, now.
But I can name a dozen historical scholarly works which have been unavailable at any public library I've checked, simply because prevailing, LOUD, current social attitudes do not approve of the facts, or the historical context of the event or the subject matter.
On a more general note, the censorship extends to some of the works of Mark Twain, books like "Little Black Sambo," and Disney movies like "Song of the South."
Courtesy of the self-defined and perpetually oppressed, both racially and sexually.
“...Every Public library has practiced politically correct censorship...”
So you use that to justify further censorship? It already happens so what’s a little more? That makes sense. /s
I disagree with the removal of “Little Black Sambo,” “Song of the South,” “The Bell Curve,” and any other works, or blocking internet access. It’s called consistency. You seem to be OK with removing works from libraries as long as you don’t like the work or those who would read such a thing.
Yes, but the so-called "reporter" worked heroically at phrasing it in such a way that the casual or inattentive reader would miss it. Irrelevant, ya know.
That suggests to me the identity of the lower moral stratum in which the reporter (or his editor) exists.
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