Iowa library keeps ban on teen advice book
By The Associated Press
08.08.02
DYERSVILLE, Iowa — The public library board rethought its action in banning a teen advice book last month, then voted again last night to keep the book off the library's shelves.
Board member Betty Anne Scherrman said the board did not consider it censorship when it voted to send Sari Says: The Real Dirt on Everything from Sex to School back to the vendor.
She said the James Kennedy Public Library Board of Trustees did not believe they banned the book.
"We didn't buy a book — that's all it is," she said.
Scherrman told those attending the board meeting in the eastern Iowa town of Dyersville yesterday that the book's content is "inappropriate" and does not meet the board's criteria for the library.
About 30 community members filled the library's community room for the board's regular monthly meeting. For more than an hour, board members and Dyersville residents voiced their opinions on the book by teen advice columnist Sari Locker.
In her book, Locker tackles such questions as: How do I tell my parents I got a tattoo? Should I get together with someone I met online? Can I get birth control without my parents' permission?
At its June 26 meeting, the board voted 7-0, with two abstentions, to return the book to the vendor. The book already had been purchased by the library.
Board members who voted against Sari Says cited its sexually explicit content.
Board member Kori Mahoney made a motion to rescind the earlier decision at yesterday's meeting.
"I believe our decision was fundamentally flawed because it was not based on enough information," Mahoney told the board.
She said she was concerned because some members had not read the book when they voted and there was confusion about the status of the book.
"I believe by rescinding our decision and moving this book to our newly appointed review committee we will be able to alleviate any question regarding the process taken in the reconsideration of the book Sari Says," she added.
The board voted 6-3 against Mahoney's motion. Board secretary Dan Boice and President Wayne Hermsen voted in favor of the motion.
The book was selected by the children and young adults librarian, and critiqued and approved for inclusion in the collection by library director Shirley Vonderhaar.
Dyersville resident Dan Sogaard called the board's June 26 decision censorship.
"Censorship is ignorance — we cannot censor any books," he told the board before the motion yesterday.
Lisa Klostermann, of Dyersville, brought to the podium a stack of books she said are worse than Sari Says found in the James Kennedy Library.
What's Going on Down There, Dr. Ruth Talks to Kids and Teenage Sexuality were among the titles Klostermann showed the board.
"I just think we pulled something off that might help somebody," she said.
Other Dyersville residents said they found the book's content "disgusting."
"I really feel it is inappropriate for our library and should be kept off the shelves," said Deb Biermann.