Oklahoma City commission votes to move books from children's section to special area

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Children's books dealing with sensitive or controversial topics will be placed in a special collection in libraries around Oklahoma City.<br/><br/>Metropolitan Library Commission

Friday, August 26th 2005, 6:40 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Children's books dealing with sensitive or controversial topics will be placed in a special collection in libraries around Oklahoma City.

Metropolitan Library Commission members voted 10-to-7 Thursday to make such books accessible by, quote, "adults in authority."

System spokeswoman Kim Terry said the terms "easy, easy-reader and tween" describe books geared toward children from those just learning to read to about age 12.

The commission didn't decide how librarians would enforce the plan or which books would be in this adults-only section. They voted to form a committee to make those choices.

The policy is the commission's response to a complaint by a patron that young children had access to library books with homosexual themes.

That complaint triggered petitions from community members asking that books having homosexual and other age-related sexual content be moved from the children's section of the library and placed in the adult section.