Random House Rightfully Slams Silly “Fifty Shades” Library Ban

More Florida libraries can come out and ban E.L. James’s wildly popular “Fifty Shades” series, but not without backlash from publisher Random House, which disagrees with the choice to keep the New York Times bestselling books off the shelves.

Responding to the multiple libraries who have banned the novels for explicit sexual content, a Random House representative told TMZ that the company “fervently opposes literary censorship and supports the First Amendment rights of readers to make their own reading choices,” continuing:

“We believe the Brevard County Public Library System [in Florida] is indulging in an act of censorship, and essentially is saying to library patrons: we will judge what you can read.”

The rep’s comment comes after Brevard County library services director, Cathy Schweinsberg told the Palm Beach Post that the British author’s book “doesn’t meet our selection criteria”:

“Nobody asked us to take it off the shelves, but we bought some copies before we realised what it was. We looked at it, because it’s been called ‘mommy porn’ and ‘soft porn.’ We don’t collect porn.”

As was previously reported, when asked why the library still carries the “Kama Sutra” and “Fear of Flying,” she said that those were “written years and and became classics” and “Fifty Shades of Grey” is “not a classic.” She could have spoken too soon though, as James’s book was initially self-published in e-book form and surpassed her expectation in sales and distribution. You never know what will become an instant classic, and though the “Fifty Shades” series may be a little too raunchy to be taught in schools or anything like that, it’s doing something right and clearly not too dirty for much of the general public. Let’s have a little more faith in potential readers and trust that they won’t be traumatized by a story about the complex romance between a bondage lover and a naive, inexperienced recent college graduate.

TAGS: el james | fifty shades of grey | fifty shades of grey banned

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