The public library in Gillette, Wyoming, is disbanding its “new adult” section, which detractors called a place for the library’s “books of shame.”
Named after book publishers’ terms for books that are written for an audience of younger adults, or people new to adulthood, the “new adult” section became a landing zone in March for books written for a younger audience but deemed inappropriate for the young adult section of the library, Campbell County Library Board member Sage Bear told Cowboy State Daily on Monday.
Creating the “new adult” section followed months of controversy surrounding sexually-graphic books in the children’s and young adult sections of the library, particularly in the Gillette branch of the Campbell County Public Library System.
The board was considering policy language defining the new adult section, but discarded that idea in a public meeting Oct. 28, in a unanimous vote.
The main reason the new adult section didn’t take off was its confusing name, Bear said.
“Librarians are having a hard time when people see the title ‘new adult section.’ They think they’re new books for adults,” she said, adding that publishers call the genre “new adult,” but it wasn’t catching on with the public.
Bear thought the section would fill out over time, but it didn’t, she added.
Some detractors told the board that the sparse shelf was in a place in the library frequented by homeless people and so felt unsafe; some jeeringly called the section’s contents “the books of shame," said Bear.
The four books remaining will be moved to the adult section, said Bear.
Those titles are “Identical” by Ellen Hopkins, “Sex Plus” by Laci Green, “This Book Is Gay” by Juno Dawson and “The V-Word” by Amber Keyser, the Gillette News Record reported, adding that there were more books there prior but those have been moved back to their original sections.
Library Director John Jackson did not immediately respond to a voicemail request for comment.
Going forward, books that are found inappropriate for the young adult section may be moved to the adult section if they are to remain in the library, Bear said.
Controversy for the public library system in Campbell County is nothing new. The board fired its prior director, Terri Lesley, last July, and a local family is now facing a civil lawsuit in which Lesley alleges they defamed her by accusing her of disseminating pornography.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
