Mom: Son in 'extensive therapy' after viewing library book
July 05, 2010 11:35 AM
Brian Hughes
Florida Freedom Newspapers
CRESTVIEW — A Japanese serial graphic novel genre popular with young
teens has raised the ire of a Crestview mother whose teenage son got
hold of an adult version of the genre from the Crestview Public
Library.
“Manga” depicts highly stylized adventure and, occasionally, violence
in fantasy settings.
Margaret Barbaree, founder of a citizens’ group called Protect Our
Children, presented examples from a manga book to the Crestview City
Council last week that she described as “graphic” and “shocking,”
taken from material she said is “available to children” at the
Crestview Public Library.
“My son lost his mind when he found this,” Barbaree said of the manga
book from which her examples were taken.
She said her son had removed the book unsupervised from the library’s
general stacks last summer and put it in his backpack. She has kept it
ever since.
“Now he’s in a home for extensive therapy,” she said.
Several months ago, Barbaree had circulated a petition bearing 226
signatures of citizens protesting the availability of manga, which she
mistakenly referred to as “anime,” or Japanese animation.
However, the library said some patrons complained they were misled
when they signed the petition.
“They told us she (Barbaree) approached them at the Christmas parade
and asked them to sign a petition protesting pornography in the
library,” said Resource Librarian Sandra Dreaden.
Barbaree said Library Director Jean Lewis explained to her that there
is a demand for manga, and that the library strives to meet the needs
of its patrons.
City Council President Charles Baugh Jr. assured Barbaree that “we
have safeguards in place to protect our children and we have
committees that review library purchases so they meet the standards of
the (American) Library Association.”
The books that concerned Barbaree “are in the library for those who
wish to partake of them and they are in a section of the library” for
adult patrons, said Baugh, who visited the library himself the day
after the council meeting and said he found the manga available in the
young adult section perfectly innocuous.
“We follow up with our citizens’ concerns,” Baugh said after meeting
with library staff and viewing the young adult manga.
Baugh also confirmed that the book Barbaree’s son had taken was in the
general stacks well away from the children’s and young adult books.
“Our library is well managed and well staffed,” Baugh told Barbaree
while assuring her, “I am a family man and I understand what you are
saying.”
Lewis said the manga available in the young adult section of the
library is oriented toward young teen readers and does not contain the
adult themes of the book Barbaree’s son took. That book had been in
the general stacks, on a top shelf in a section with other graphic
novels and comic books not geared toward young readers.
“We have policies and procedures in place to prevent underage children
from accessing those materials,” Baugh said.
Le manga, c'est le Mal
Modérateurs : Eric, jerome, Jean, Travis, Charlotte, tom, marie.m
Le diable est partout, il faut être vigilant. Les asiles psychiatriques peuvent servir de lieux de désenvoûtement laïque, en cas de nécessité...McCorjeag a écrit :Le POC c'est pas les mêmes qui ont décrété que Harry Potter introduisait les évangiles du diable directement dans le cerveau des bambins en sacralisant les sorcières au lieu de les brûler sur des bûchers comme de bon aloi ?
Oncle Joe