Public Libraries: “Citing Patrons’ Right to Read, Massachusetts Libraries Offer ‘Fifty’ Trilogy

From The Boston Globe:

Unlike a smattering of libraries in other states, Massachusetts libraries seem to have no objection to stocking the much talked-about “Fifty Shades” trilogy, but enthusiasm for the novels among library staff is far from unanimous.
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“People are excited because it’s a phenomenon right now,” said Carol Jankowski, director of the Duxbury Free Library. She said the library pays attention to current issues and titles in order to fulfill the community’s appetite for popular culture and social trends.
“We’re also champions of the right to read, so we really would never want to apply censorship to something that people are clamoring for,” she said.
And clamoring they are.
Carver Public Library director Carole Julius said the SAILS Library Network had 1,154 patrons waiting for a copy of the first book across its 73 libraries and branches. Ellen Kane, acquisitions associate at the Hull Public Library, said the smaller Old Colony Library Network had 785 holds, not including holds on e-books or audio books.

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Filed under: Libraries, Patrons and Users, Public Libraries, Publishing