Nampa Public Library Removes Joy of Sex

On Friday June 3, 2008 The Library Board of the Nampa Public Library voted to remove two visual sex dictionaries, The New Joy of Sex and The Joy of Gay Sex of the shelves. As originally reported in the Idaho Statesman they also voted to restrict access to minors any material that has graphic sexual representation.

Patrons 18 years of age or older would have to request the materials which are now located in the Library Director's office.

This is not the first time that the library has had to contend with sexually explicit books. The First Amendment Center has an article from June 2006 where the library decided to physically move 60 books with sexual topics to the highest shelf to prevent youngsters from viewing the content.

Not everyone thinks that this is a bad idea. An editorial in the Idaho Examiner considers the books the equivalent of pornography, supports the mayor who appointed the Library Board members who voted to remove and thinks that there should be restrictions on the type of books that libraries and school personnel can select for public and educational viewing. The conservative online publication World Net Daily also supported the removal of the books.

The American Library Association has quite a bit of information concerning censorship, patron rights, and respecting access to information.

• The Intellectual Freedom and Censorship Q & A is your starting point to understand what is Intellectual freedom, what to do when a challenge comes to your desk and effective responses.
  
• Censorship and Challenges gives you a list of other resources to draw upon when a material is targeted for censorship.
• Intellectual Freedom Issues contains yet another listing of the types of censorship and other methods used to suppress and prevent the flow of information.