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NEW!Interview: Mohammad Abbas talks about his role as head of the new Library Department of the Iraqi Council of Representatives, the nations parliament in Baghdad.
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No news is not necessarily good news for freedom-to-read proponents in Wichita Falls, Texas: Although the public library has yet to receive a petition demanding the relocation of Daddy’s Roommate or Heather Has Two Mommies from the children’s area to the adult shelves, community activists are methodically gathering uncontestable signatures in opposition to both titles.
“To sign the petition, you have to sit down and read [the books],” community activist Carma Fisher told the March 14 Wichita Falls Times Record News. “It’s working to our advantage, even though it’s more time-consuming. As people see the content of the books, it increases their opinion of where they should be.”
In February the city council responded to almost a year’s worth of controversy over the two titles’ presence in the youth collection by passing an ordinance requiring library officials to move a children’s title to the adult section when 300 or more people sign a petition against the book.