The Chairman of the Board of Supervisors of suburban San Bernadino County, California, has ordered the county's libraries to remove Manga: Sixty Years of Japanese Comics from circulation. He called the book "obscene comics" and also stated the "book is absolutely inappropriate for a public library and as soon as I was made aware of it yesterday, I ordered it to be removed immediately."

Problems arose after a 16-year-old checked out the book and then teen's mother complained.

The County Library Collection Development Coordinator said in defense of the book, "It is the parents' responsibility since the library does not act as a parent. It is the library's responsibility to offer a broad spectrum of materials, not to exclude materials... Library policy affirms the American Library Association's Library Bill of rights, Freedom to Read, and Freedom to View statements."

Exactly. NO ONE has the right to remove materials from circulation. This is censorship pure and simple. The Chairman of the Board should be brought forward to answer for his crime. He is more than welcome to choose what goes on his PRIVATE shelves in his home. The PUBLIC library is just that. PUBLIC.
The mother of the son by law has the right to censor and monitor her minor child. That is her responsibility and should not expect others to do it for her.
It is NOT the job of the library or its employees.

Husband of a Librarian. Can you tell.

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"Too Soon from the Cave, Too Far from the Stars"