Mothers want book off of children's shelf

True story about male penguins called offensive

Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2008

"And Tango Makes Three," a 2005 book for young children, tells the true story of Roy and Silo, two male penguins in the Central Park Zoo in New York City who fostered and hatched an abandoned egg.

Beth Bubser of Dunkirk, who was the first to complain to the library about the book, said its subject was inappropriate for its audience. During her comments Tuesday, Oct. 7, before the board, she and her supporters asked that it be removed from the juvenile section and shelved with adult books on sexuality.

Bubser said she was upset to discover, after she started reading the book to her 6-year-old daughter, that it described a same-sex penguin couple.

"‘Roy and Silo were both boys. But they did everything together. They bowed to each other and walked together. They sang to each other. They swam together. Wherever Roy went, Silo went,'" Bubser quoted. "At that point I stopped reading to my daughter. Flags are popping out of my head. But I read silently and she did the same thing. … And then she brings me back to reality and says, ‘Mommy, how can two boy penguins be in love?' At which point I closed the book and said, ‘Because they're brothers.'"

Bubser said she was "blindsided" by the content because it was not in the summary on the cover.

"There is nowhere in this book [where] it says it is about two gay male penguins who fall in love and raise a baby chick," Bubser said. "I was completely blindsided. I thought the rug was pulled from under me. I have read thousands and thousands of books to my children and nowhere was I prepared. I just couldn't believe it. I'm just so glad we stopped where we did. This book, this book undermines parental authority. It's targeting children in a sneaky way."

Library Director Patricia Hofmann said she first heard from Bubser last December after she filled out a complaint form about the book. In response, the library formed a committee to study it, deciding in January "that we did believe that it does fit within selection criteria." The book does "absolutely not" contain any references to sexual activity, she added.

Bubser appealed the decision to the Library Board of Trustees, which has not yet reached a decision, according to Hofmann.

Other patrons have complained about the book, Hofmann said, but would not give their names. At the same time, "it's received a lot of requests from people who want to read it," she added. The book has also won two awards and been included on 11 "best books" lists, according to a printout of a library database provided by Hofmann.

All four women who spoke against the book stressed that they are not asking for the book to removed from the library, but only from the children's section.

Chrissy Carbit suggested that the library rearrange its shelving to prevent families from stumbling upon books they find offensive.

"I come from a Christian family," Carbit said. "When I go to the library, I seek out Christian books. I would be more than willing to go to a Christian section if they want to reshelve the Christian books that are for Christian children. I think if there is an alternative family, they would do the same thing. If there is a book I'm interested in reading, I'll go and research it in the database to see if it has it. I'm not asking they remove it. I'm just asking they reshelve it."

The commissioners did not respond after the comments. The board appoints members of the Library Board of Trustees but does not have direct authority over library operations, Hofmann said.

Calvert County has not been the only place the book has faced opposition. "And Tango Makes Three" tops the American Library Association's "most challenged book" lists for 2006 and 2007.

Deborah Caldwell-Stone, deputy director of the ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom, said conceding to the request would be harmful because it would make it unlikely that children and parents would find it.

"There is a group of persons in the community, some parents, some with other viewpoints, who see this as an endorsement of gay marriage or same-sex parenting and believe this book shouldn't be in the library because it's inappropriate for kids to have access to this information. The word [gay] is never mentioned. It's really geared at the preschool to second grade set, and amazingly the kids just see the story for what it is, but it's challenged for homosexuality, inappropriate for the age group, anti-family," Caldwell-Stone said. " … The problem with this is, first of all, the book does tell an entertaining story. It is in no way inappropriate or objectionable from that viewpoint. It is a picture book intended for small children, and although one set of parents doesn't find it fits with that particular set of family values, another family has no problem with it, is grateful for it, or simply wants to tell a true story about two penguins who adopt an orphan egg."

Also, reshelving the book would run afoul of a previous federal court ruling in Texas that children's access to books for their age level is protected by the First Amendment, Caldwell-Stone said. Parents should be involved in their kids' library activities and ask librarians for help if they have questions, but libraries cannot restrict access to controversial books, she added.

"Libraries collect books for the entire community, not just for one viewpoint," Caldwell-Stone said. "I can assure you, in most communities, there are people who have relatives who are gay or lesbian and may want a means of explaining this to a niece and nephew of this person, or they may be dealing with it in the immediate family. Or they may simply want to have freedom to read books they want to read."

emitrano@somdnews.com