A magazine about sex will stay where teens can find it at the Ames Public Library.
The Library Board of Trustees voted 6-1 Thursday to support Director Art Weeks’ recommendation to continue openly displaying and offering free copies of Sex, Etc. in the teen section.
Trustee Melody Warnick, however, said she agonized over the issue before casting the dissenting vote.
“It is very frank and honest in a way that teens need,” Warnick said, “but I agree with the Bannantines’ complaint … that we’re privileging this magazine over everything else that we have in the library.”
Joyce and John Bannantine presented a petition to the board last month with signatures of 118 parents with concerns about the topic and treatment of the magazine, which is written for teens by teens under the oversight of Answer, a national sexuality organization at Rutgers University.
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[Our emphasis] “Libraries are not just where we keep the books, it’s where we keep the information, and we’ve believe the information at libraries is factual,” Susan Wallace, a writer and editor, said.
After reading the magazine, Wallace said, “I thought, ‘Wow, this is wonderful.’ It is peer to peer. It is professionally reviewed. I would urge you to keep this publication visible, accessible, open.”
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