‘50 Shades’ series available here
Published 11:59 pm Thursday, June 28, 2012
Though some libraries across the country, including the Mobile Public Library, have banned the “Fifty Shades of Grey” trilogy, Andalusia Public Library officials say they have no intention of banning the works.
The trilogy is quickly becoming one of the most popular and talked about books this summer, and is on the New York Times Best Seller list.
The NY Times even called the trilogy “mommy porn,” in its review of the books.
The plot centers on “the lives of Christian Grey, a rich, handsome tycoon, and Anastasia Steel, an innocent college student, who enter into a dominant-submissive relationship,” according to the NY Times.
Despite the label of “erotica,” APL director Karin Taylor said the library “is not banning it.”
“No one is speaking out against it,” she said. “In fact, I’m totally against censorship. We subscribe to the Library Bill of Rights and the Freedom to Read statement.”
Right now the library only has the “Fifty Shades of Grey” title, but Taylor said when patrons ask for the “Fifty Shades Darker” and “Fifty Shades Freed,” she’ll happily order them.
“Right now we have a waiting list for the first book,” she said.
For those who may think the book isn’t appropriate for the library, Taylor said there’s a procedure she’ll follow to take concerns.
“We will give them a copy of the Library Bill of Rights and the Freedom to Read statement,” she said. “We’ll also get them the ‘Citizen’s request for reconsideration of library materials’ form. They’ll fill it out, and the board will make a decision.”
According to the Freedom to Read statement, “There is no place in our society for efforts to coerce the taste of others, to confine adults to the reading matter deemed suitable for adolescents or to inhibit the efforts of writers to achieve artistic expression.”
Florala Public Library has all three books, and has not had any complaints, officials said.
The personnel Opp Public Library did not immediately return phone calls.