Loutit Library has a challenged book, book challenge going on. In the center of the library on prominent display they have books like “Lawn Boy”, “Beyond Magenta” , “Gender Queer” and “Fifty Shades of Grey”; the most challenged books (challenged predominantly by parents (44%) trying to raise their kids). Loutit Library is challenging you and your kids to read as many of these books as you can to eventually spin a wheel and get prizes.
You should read them and decide if they’re good for your kids.
Your kids can check out “50 Shades of Grey” without your consent, it’s one of the first books my eyes were drawn to because it’s in the lowest level. It does say “sexually explicit” but there’s no consent required for your kids to check it out.
Their challenged book display mixes in books like “Diary of Anne Frank”, Roald Dahls “James and the Giant Peach” and “A Wrinkle in Time”. So if you’re completely unaware of what’s going on, you scoff at the absurdity that parents would challenge such books simply by correlating two books sitting next to each other. That’s exactly what I witnessed while there.
I stood there listening to the librarian explaining the challenge to an older couple. “Oh how neat”, I said as I joined their conversation. “What do you win if you read these books?” I asked. The older gentleman said “you become more open minded”. Wink wink nod nod
“Oh how wonderful,” I winked back.
I then pointed to “Beyond Magenta” and said, “you guys DEFinately need to read this book here …in this book, an adult man describes how he, as a six year old, loved to give oral sex to several people in his neighborhood. He doesn’t talk about the illegal nature of it, just a humorous incident, hahahahah isn’t that awesome???” The couple and librarian were so perturbed. “that’s not true,” said the librarian. “Have you read the book ?” I asked her. “Well no”, she admitted. “Well you really should, its wonderful kink….I’m so glad you have it front and center in the library with prizes as your carrot on a stick so the children will read it.”
As she trotted off, I turned to the older couple as I was pointing out “Fifty Shades of Grey…” oh this is DEFinately a book we need to put on display for everyone to read…this wealthy man basically purchases a girl through gifts and status for his bondage fantasies. He ties her up and whips her before they have sex….lots and lots of kinky sex scenes, he even had a special room set up for bdsm. It’s pretty awesome, there’s not really enough objectification of women as sex toys in our society anymore, it really helped to move us in a better direction…I mean what is a woman anyways?? . I’m so glad it’s sitting here on the lowest level so all the younger kids can have a chance at reading it for prizes!!”
“Oh wait a minute, Gender Queer?? Y’all MUST read this one, some really well illustrated cartoon pictures depicting sex between an older man and a younger man…one really great cartoon depiction shows a girl wearing a strap on dildo getting a blowjob , it’s really excellent, MUST READ.”
By this time the librarian returned to all three of us to tell me that the 6 year old giving blow jobs to his neighbors wasn’t framed as a good thing. “Oh really, did you read the book?”
“No I asked someone else. “
“You mean you haven’t read all the books you’re challenging us all (including kids) to read??) , you really should, they’ll really make you more open minded.” I winked at the older couple standing there with their jaws hanging open trying to backtrack what he’d told me just a few minutes prior.
I’m embarrassed for Grand Haven. Some of these people do the worst stuff to be accepted as “the tolerant ones”…..and the rest of them just follow arrogantly scoffing at those close minded folks. They’re not open minded, they’re just ignorant and easily deceived. Peddling sexually explicit materials to kids and deceiving the public into thinking that these books are on par with “James and the Giant peach” is just embarrassing. Lord, really??…they know not what they do???
I challenge you to read some of these nasty books they deceptively mixed in with Tom Sawyer books without even reading themselves. Then I challenge you to tell the librarians you’re disgusted they would make some of these books easily available to kids and lure them into them with gifts. It’s one thing to keep them in an adult section where kids don’t usually see them anyways, it’s a whole ‘nother thing to put them on display luring them in.