San Bernardino County Manga book ban, part 2

So, I received a faxed copy of the materials selection guidelines from the San Bernardino County Library; they read, in part: "The County Library provides materials presenting various points of view without regard to race, nationality, or the political, social, moral and religious views of an author. Works are judged on their content as a whole, not from excerpts. The County Library provides unrestricted access to all materials to all patrons regardless of age. Parents concerned about their child's reading or viewing materials should provide appropriate guidance."

Hmmm.... if I were a patron of the San Bernardino County Library system, I would definitely protest their ban of Mr. Gravett's book. It seems to be in direct contradiction to their stated policies (and I find their suggestions of labeling and 'further review of materials' sinister in the extreme).

Here's what one of my favorite authors, Neil Gaiman, had to say about it on his blog:

"I think that removing reference books from libraries is a very silly thing to do. I've not read it, but I've read a lot of Paul Gravett's writing over the last 25 years and it's always been well-reasoned, well-researched, inclusive, and never sensationalistic.

There's a good summary of the articles currently up at http://www.paulgravett.com/articles/041_californiancontroversey/041_californiancontroversey.htm
"To remove a book about the history of the genre of Japanese comics just because it contains a section on erotic comics is comparable to removing an encyclopedia because of an entry on erotic practices," NCAC Director of Arts Svetlana Mintcheva said.

The American Civil Liberties Union is one of the lead members of this coalition. The book Manga: Sixty years of Japanese Comics, became the subject of controversy after 16-year-old Matt Jones of Victorville told his mother the book contained illustrations of graphic sexual acts and sex with animals. The book was found to also be available in branches located in Hesperia, Apple Valley and Barstow.

Along with the order for removal of the book, Postmus also called for officials with the county library to draft a plan to protect children from similar books.

Monday, the supervisor said the book will remain off the shelves of the county library. "A cartoon depicting a person engaged in a sex act with a giant hamster doesn't belong in a San Bernardino County library. And our tax dollars shouldn't be used to pay for it either," he said. "That's simply what this is about," Postmus said.

(I find myself imagining a short checklist for books that they want to put on the shelves of San Bernadino County Library, saying only "Does this book contain a cartoon depicting someone having sex with a giant hamster?" and "Was it paid for by our tax dollars?" and if the answer to both is yes, it gets thrown away.)

If you live in San Bernadino county, and you want to be able to read MANGA! in your library, you might, as Paul points out on http://www.paulgravett.com/articles/041_californiancontroversey/041_letters.htm, want to write a polite letter of protest to
Mr. Bill Postmus
Chairman, Board of Supervisors, San Bernardino County
385 North Arrowhead Avenue, Fifth Floor
San Bernardino, California 92415, USA
email: SupervisorPostmus@sbcounty.govf
fax: (001) 909-387-3029

The most effective form of protest is a clear and well-reasoned argument. Please refrain from using threatening, insulting or otherwise legally actionable language when writing to elected officials."