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The Board of Joseph’s Hammer met with Chaplain Mark Cartwright and Warden Patricia Williams to discuss the progress of the worship center at the Ellen Halbert Unit in Burnet. Pictured, from left are: Davey Haberer, Chaplain Cartwright, Paige Lechler, Warden Williams and Pam Stevenson. Contributed -
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The “inappropriate” books received several reviews on Amazon as being suitable for all ages. Contributed
Two children’s books removed from the Llano County Library System as being inappropriate will not be available for public scrutiny, Llano County Judge Ron Cunningham said Monday.
The two books are I Need a New Butt by Dawn McMillan and Freddie the Farting Snowman by Jane Bexley. Both are available online from Amazon – the McMillan either as an e-book or a paperback, the Bexley volume only as an e-book. Both books are intended for children.
Amazon quotes Norman Public Schools (with no further location given) as saying about I Need a New Butt: “A silly story that will cause boys and girls to giggle from beginning to end!”
Amazon says of Freddie the Farting Snowman, “This book is appropriate for ALL AGES who don’t mind silly toot humor (that is not overly gross)” (emphasis Amazon’s).
McMillan, a New Zealand author, writes “both funny and serious” children’ books, according to her biography. Less information is available about Bexley, whose books appear to specialize in flatulence for children. Both authors have written several books besides the two under discussion.
The controversy over the books arose after some Llano County residents protested at the Commissioners Court meeting Monday, Nov. 8, complaining of “inappropriate” books being made available to minors at the Llano County Library System. The system has libraries in Llano, Buchanan Dam and Kingsland.
The discussion continued at the next Commissioners Court meeting, with Cunningham pointing out that he and Precinct 4 Commissioner Jerry Don Moss had inspected some library books and removed two – the two cited above, though the titles were not given at the time.
At the same time, other speakers warned of censorship and Library Director Amber Milum added that parents can sign a document that controls what their children can check out of any of the county libraries. She added that parents also can receive e-mails that tell what books their children check out of the library. And Milum said books, CDs and other materials intended for adult audiences are marked so a parent should be able to glance at the cover and tell what type of material the child has.
Cunningham took the opportunity to refute a rumor that he had said librarians must monitor every book a child picks up.
“I said parents have a responsibility to monitor their children,” he said.
“I will point out that it was said that city taxes help fund the libraries. That’s not true. The county funds (all three libraries),” he added.
