Kids’ Right to Read Project Opposes Censorship of Young Adult Titles in Florida Public Library

The National Coalition Against Censorship joined the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) in opposing censorship at Leesburg Public Library after two mothers, Dixie Fectel and Diane Venetta filed a petition objecting to sexual themes and the depiction of drug use in The Bermudez Triangle by Maureen Johnson and Only in Your Dreams: A Gossip Girl Novel by Cecily van Ziegesar.  

On June 10th, the Leesburg Library Advisory Board refused to move these Young Adult books into the adult section of the library or to give them advisory labels. Library Director Barbara Morse cited the presence of similar themes on television, and parents’ right to decide what is appropriate for their own children, as reasons for the petition’s rejection.

The Kids’ Right to Read Project interviewed author, Maureen Johnson, about the challenge against her book, The Bermudez Triangle in Leesburg. To hear and see what she had to say click here.

To view the Kids’ Right to Read Project’s letter from April 7, 2009, click here.

To view the Kids’ Right to Read Project’s letter from July 7, 2009, click here.