News Report for 11/24

"Cheshire Library Retains True-Crime Book about Town Murders"
http://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/currentnews/newsarchive/2009/november2009/chesirecrimebookstays111709.cfm?persistent=&expy_dt=
Greg Landgraf, American Libraries

The Cheshire Public Library had quite a controversy over the addition of a book on October 20th. The Public Library Advisory Board voted five to one when the issue of adding the books to the library’s collection finally came to call. Director Romona Harten is the one who initiated the move to purchase the two copies of the book. The book by Brian McDonald, In the Middle of the Night: The Shocking True Story of a Family Killed in Cold, tells a story about murders that happened to three members of a local family, from the perspective of a main who awaited trial for the murders. The subject was made public and had been a very controversial issue around the town. Martin Cobert, a resident and member of the board argued that the book should be allowed in the library because of the fact that if such titles as this were not allowed, the same could be generalized to many other books.

I believe this is a very intriguing and interesting story. While I understand that it might be offensive to the family members of those who were killed, they’re not being forced to read the book. As Cobert had stated, if the opposing people of the book had not blown the ordeal out of proportion, it would simply be another book within the Library’s large collection and barely noticed. Since the ordeal, it’s much more likely that people will check the book out and make a larger deal of it. I’m in support of not allowing the banning of any books, because I believe that if you are against the book then you may simply choose not to read it.