A Maine library faced local backlash for carrying a book critical of child gender transition.
The library’s director faced criticism and pressure to remove the book, but he defended the decision, emphasizing that carrying a controversial book does not equal endorsement.
“If I’m being totally honest, my heart sank when I saw it,” the library director said.
“I want the library to be there for everybody, not just people who share my voting record,” he said.
The American Library Association supported the book’s presence, stating that it’s important to uphold intellectual freedom.
“Our position on the book is, it should remain in the collection; it is beneath us to adopt the tools of the censors,” ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom director Deborah Caldwell-Stone said. “We need to support intellectual freedom in all its aspects, in order to claim that high ground.”
“I hadn’t really given intellectual freedom as much thought as I should have,” the library director said, noting that “intellectual freedom or the freedom of speech isn’t there just to protect ideas that we like.”
Despite initial opposition, the book remained available at the library by the end of the year.
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