Innocents being seduced by libraries?
Local6.com reports that an 11-year-old Orange County, FL, girl checked out a copy of TokyoPop's Peach Girl from her local branch of the Orange County library system. Obviously, her parents were none too thrilled when they realized their daughter was reading a manga comic about rape, swinging, and drug use.
"As I was going through it, I said, 'Oh my God, do parents know what their kids are reading?'" mother Raynelle White said.
My first reaction is, "Probably not. At least you didn't." Personally I think the problem in this specific case is not with libraries stocking such books. There are certainly any number of books on public library shelves -- from Greek and Norse mythology to the Bible to Tess of the d'Urbervilles to A Clockwork Orange (and let's not even get in to books of artwork) -- that showcase unsavory deeds and instances that 11-year-olds in most cases should not be reading without their parents' knowledge. However, comic books and graphic novels appearing on public library shelves is something quite new in the U.S., and many parents probably have not picked up on the fact that these books are not being stocked in the children's section. Just because there are pretty pictures doesn't mean it's wholesome, and a lot of people don't know that, which is what I'd attribute this ordeal to.
White believes no one looked past the cover of the comic and it is time that things changed at the library.
"I don't want to see it; I don't want her seeing it," Travis White said. "The whole time, I'm like, 'I can't believe we're seeing these things.'"
My response? This stuff is no different that stocking copies of The Invisible Man or The Bell Jar, but, just like these two books, you shouldn't have your 11-year-old running loose in the adult section of a library through stories without knowing what they're reading. Feel free to disagree.
posted by Anonymous @ 11:39 AM
5 Comments:
This one plays into the great Catch 22 of comics. If it is a comic it is automatically for kids and has to be “G”-Rated, if it is targeted for adults, it is automatically pornographic, because comics are automatically for kids and should be “G”-Rated (see above).
As hard as we try, we are just never going to get past the popular perception that all comicbooks are automatically for kids. Personally, I believe that it is the publisher’s responsibility (or the distributor) to know their clientele, and if they see that their products are being ordered by public libraries, they should inform those libraries to scan the contents of the books before automatically assuming that they are for kids.
Needless to say, if the books aren’t kid-friendly, and libraries are ordering them, then the publisher (distributor) should be proactive and inform the librarians of that as well. If we are serious about protecting our industry, it is important for all of us to act as watchdogs on the industry’s behalf.
This just goes to show you that manga destroys lives.
actually, if the librarian had taken the time to be familiar with the "product" on the shelves, then said librarian could have said to the girl "this isn't really for kids; let's go find something I think you'll like" instead of just running the book's barcode under the scanner and going back to yakking on the phone or watching the clock.
I don't see why the library even had manga. If people want to read pervy tentacle sex stories, let them buy it with their own cash.
word up, riverbed!
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