Your article last week reported the praise the Village Trustees expressed for the librarian’s decision to keep “Gender Queer” in our library (Riverside trustees throw support behind library officials,” News, Jan. 11).
It was moved up from the Teen section to Adult upstairs after the two ladies met with the librarians. That was a step in the right direction. The next should be out the door. I doubt that the village trustees read this 200-page graphic novel.
The article also mentioned that “Gender Queer” has won many awards including the American Library Association Alex Award and considered it good reading (and looking) and will appeal to those ages 12-18 years. This is why the book was placed in our teen section. I used the adjective “our” because I have paid property taxes here for 59 years.
If we already have 29 books about transgender and gender issues, I see no good reason to have another book in this category that has at least two pornographic pictures in it that I have seen.
No pornography belongs in the library. It’s not allowed on the computers so why allow even just two or three pictures?
Once you see it you cannot unsee it. Pornography has become a public mental health crisis. Middle school children, especially boys, often go in search of sexual content, but why should they find it in “our” library? I will leave it to someone else to address the highly sexualized dialogue on some pages in this award-winning book. I think we should strive to protect the innocence of our children as long as possible.
Paulette Kernan, Riverside
