Hikind And Mothers Looking To Hide Erotic Books At Public Libraries

Source: api via flickr
Source: api via flickr

A group of mothers and Assemblyman Dov Hikind have joined forces to demand that the Brooklyn Public Library in Borough Park not make it easy for children to obtain erotic books. News 12 is reporting that concerned mothers and Hikind were disgusted over the relative easy accessibility of erotic material.

While Hikind is not suggesting that the erotic material be removed from the libraries entirely, he wants to make sure that all questionable books be placed in a separate room that children can’t access.

“It is beyond anything that is acceptable in a public library that young people should be able to access this,” Hikind said.

News 12 reached out to the Brooklyn Public Library:

A spokesperson for Brooklyn Public Library says it follows American Library Association guidelines, which oppose restriction on access to services, material and facilities.
The library says it is committed to ensuring young patrons only have access to age-appropriate materials. Young children under 13 must have parental approval to access any books other than juvenile materials.

Still, parents expressed outrage with library’s policy.

“These kids walk in and they see this, it’s disgusting, I don’t care where you come from, you want children to be children,” Raizy Horowitz said at a news conference.

Now, the process of dictating morality in a public library is always tricky. Many books fall in a grey area – I hear there are 50 shades of it – balancing sex education and health-related questions. Some may consider certain books erotic while others consider the same book a work of art. The question remains, who will be the ultimate authority on what is defined as an erotic book and what is not? The librarians? Conservative parents? Dov Hikind?

We sure as heck hope it ain’t Dov Hikind.