11/18/2003: 
Criminally Absurd
Mom Petitions To Get Puberty Book Removed From Library
Weld Library District Discusses Book Mother Calls 'Mildly Pornographic'
from AP by way of Denver News 7
GREELEY, Colo. -- "The Cat Who Killed Lilian Jackson Braun: A Parody" and "Arming America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture," will remain on the shelves of libraries run by the Weld Library District.
But members of the board still are considering an objection to a book that has explicit depictions of sexual development during puberty.
That book, "It's Perfectly Normal: A Book About Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex and Sexual Health," is by Robie H. Harris and talks about sexual orientation, birth control, sexual abuse and cartoon panels show biological functions such as egg fertilization.
The objection was raised by Evans resident Jeannie McAllister, a 33-year-old mother of four.
She said she usually screens her kids' library books but she missed this book in a stack her children brought home.
Later she was horrified to see the book her 8- and 5-year-olds had been flipping through contained illustrations of nude people, including a couple having sex.
"I would call it mildly pornographic," she said.
She promised that she will pursue her objection, circulating petitions or picketing the library.
"I don't want to have to do this, but I will because that's how strongly I feel about it," she said.
Her complaint will be reviewed by the board at its next meeting.
On the other two complaints, which were rejected, the board held fast to the belief that public libraries are designed to provide a broad range of materials from which readers can choose, even if some are offended by various concepts.
That's in line with the stance of the American Library Association.
The Braun book was challenged for violence while the gun book was challenged for its apparently manufactured sources.
Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
