WARNING: I include graphic images in this post to make clear the extreme nature of the discussed material.
My 12-year-old son discovered the following book in the New Juvenile display in the entrance way of Appoquinimink Community Library. This is the listing from the Delaware Library Catalog:
It is labeled for placement in adult collections. At the very least, the library should have recognized this as material to be handled with extra care and not featured among children’s books. At worst, it may be an attempt to introduce children to images they are not yet prepared to process.
My trust in Delaware libraries has withered in recent years. I do not assume that this was purely a mistake. I do not believe they have enough concern for local families to protect children from inappropriate material. I do not believe they respect parents’ choices in how they raise their children.
I held onto the book as long as I could, but I returned it today.
I will complete a Request for Reconsideration Form and hope that Appoquinimink can find a better use of this shelf space. I will also request that an additional level of security is placed on materials that the library’s own system labels as pornographic.
As this book will be returning to the stacks this week, I will use this post to make local parents aware that we must keep a close eye on the activities at our libraries. Their actions betray their words when it comes to serving Delaware families.
These images are not the worst I could have shared; but frankly, I was embarrassed to publish the most grotesque depictions.
Considering that I actually sell old copies of squeak the mouse.. It is ridiculous that this could be found in the children section of a library.. Even though it was the inspiration for itchy and scratchy on the simpsons cartook, not for children
“I will assume it’s not simply a mistake” and instead I’ve decided there’s some nefarious master plan by “Big Library” to introduce children to pornography as a way to… I don’t know, something. Seems reasonable if you e detached from reality and have already decided absent evidence and good sense that everything is a dark conspiracy.
You use quotation marks, yet those words are not in the post. I present the possibilities I see as most likely.