Porn for Kids in the Hamilton East Public Library

Kids also encouraged to seek sex advice from strangers online

I’ve been aware for some time that the school and public libraries around Hamilton County often shelve materials for minors that are objectionable. But I hadn’t been aware until a few weeks ago that Hamilton East Public Library (HEPL) has been crossing some significant lines and descending to a new low in this regard.

The book that first dropped my jaw is Drawn to Sex: The Basics by Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan. This book was shelved in the “TeenZone” of HEPL: the section of the library that is reserved for kids as young as thirteen, and possibly as young as sixth grade.

Let’s talk about this book a bit. One of the authors, Moen, called herself a “pervert” in Publishers Weekly. And here’s a cartoon she drew of herself from the book in question:

This book is full of hard-core pornography. It depicts people of unspecified age engaging in every sexual practice you can think of, and some that you probably can’t think of. I won’t show any of the pornographic pictures, but to give you an idea of the sort of thing I’m talking about, here’s another drawing Moen made of herself (remember, this was shelved in the teen section of HEPL):

This is the sort of material the book covers with graphic illustrations. In fact, the book includes chapters with titles like “Anal Introduction”, “More anal!”, and “How to rock a threeway”, all fully illustrated with hard-core pornography. To repeat, HEPL, your public library, which you pay for, shelved this book in the teen section, where minor children are encouraged to explore.

In addition, the chapter in the book on sexual fantasies recommends fantasizing about “all KINDS of things”. Here’s Moen again:

Fantastical creatures. So she’s apparently encouraging readers (minor children in our library!) to fantasize about sex with animals.

Moen goes on to talk about how normal it is to fantasize about things that are “illicit,” but warns the reader to get help if a worry arises that the fantasies might lead to actually engaging in an illegal activity. Sex crimes in our state include rape, sexual battery, child molestation, and various additional sexual crimes against children. I wonder which of these criminal activities Moen means to endorse fantasizing about.

This is a disgusting book.

Could shelving this book in the teen section of the library have been a mistake? Perhaps the HEPL staff didn’t realize what was in it? Well, here’s a screenshot of the HEPL catalog’s entry for the book (highlights mine):

In other words, the library itself classified this book as a “Pornographic comic book” that discusses anal sex and threeways. They were obviously therefore aware of what they were doing when they shelved it in the teen section.

So, to summarize what we have so far: it is not in dispute that HEPL knowingly shelved an explicit, pornographic comic book, which extensively discusses anal sex and group sex, and was written by a pervert, in the teen section of the library.

I was pretty surprised by these revelations. I soon found out that a couple of local moms—the very moms who brought it to my attention—complained to HEPL about this book, and the HEPL staff decided to reshelve it in the adult section. However, since the original shelving decision was made by someone at HEPL with knowledge of the pornographic content in the book, merely moving the book to the adult section is not a solution to the deeper problem. The initial decision to shelve this book in the teen section of the library was a clear demonstration of gross incompetence. To solve this problem and restore some measure of trust with the public, the person who is responsible for shelving the book in the teen section in the first place must be relieved of authority over such decisions in the future. I do not mean to call for the person’s job. But the relevant HEPL staff member cannot continue to have authority over the content of the teen section, as he or she has conclusively demonstrated complete incompetence in this role, and has seriously violated the public trust to a degree that jeopardizes public confidence.

But wait, it’s actually worse than I have explained so far. After learning about the above book, the first thing I did (after I picked my jaw up off of the ground) was to check the library catalog for similar books. Without much effort, I came up with two additional titles.

The first is another Moen & Nolan book called Let’s Talk About It: The Teen’s Guide to Sex, Relationships, and Being a Human. This book is currently still shelved in the teen section at HEPL, and it is also a clear case of hard-core pornography. It depicts people (again, of indeterminate age) engaged in explicit sexual acts. But this book adds some additional twists. First, it encourages minor children to seek out pornography:

Second, and even more troubling, the book encourages children to go online to talk to strangers about their sexual fantasies:

Let’s pause on this point for a moment. The FBI does not want your thirteen-year-old going online to talk to strangers about their sexual interests. This is a matter of public safety: kids are in serious danger of sexual predators if they follow Moen’s advice. As the FBI puts it: “Tell your children to be extremely wary when communicating with anyone online who they do not know in real life.”

Finally, the book, which again is still shelved in the teen section at HEPL, also recommends the other Moen book, Drawn to Sex, that I discussed above.

All of this is further evidence of gross incompetence on the part of HEPL staff. How can it possibly be ok to shelve this second Moen book in the teen section of the library, where minor children are encouraged to freely explore? Why haven’t they already removed it? What other porn is in the TeenZone (and the Junior section) that I’m not aware of? This is just obviously another serious breach of public trust that jeopardizes public confidence, and someone needs to be held accountable to restore that confidence.

My final example of an inappropriate book in the teen section of HEPL is by Isabella Rotman and Luke Howard: A Quick & Easy Guide to Consent. This book was in its own way jaw-droppingly unacceptable for children. The book does not contain pornographic images. But it does contain a checklist encouraging the kids who read it to reflect on what sexual practices they might be interested in engaging in or fantasizing about:

The checklist goes on for five pages, but I will spare you further images.

Once again: this demonstrates gross incompetence, and is sure to give parents a fear that the library will introduce their minor children to sexual practices that are obviously inappropriate for them to be reading about. It is another serious breach of public trust that, if unaddressed, will jeopardize public confidence in those who are in authority over these matters.

At this point, I want to be clear that I am not for censorship, and I am not for banning or burning books. I understand that the question of what the library should shelve in the adult section of the library is a controversial question and that it is not always easy to settle this question to everyone's satisfaction. In fact, I do not have a settled opinion on the matter.

But it is obvious, and not at all controversial that the library should not be shelving hard core pornography, which encourages minors to engage in sex talk online with strangers, in the teen section. It is obvious and not at all controversial that the library should not be shelving materials in the teen section that invite minors to reflect on their attitudes about group sex, anal sex, and so on. 

To have placed such materials in the teen section of the library was grossly incompetent and disqualifies the one who did so from continuing to have authority over the teen section.

Accordingly, I informed HEPL director, Edra Waterman (ewaterman@hepl.lib.in.us) of this situation, and I have asked her to say whether she agrees with me that this affair is a display of gross incompetence, and also what she proposes to do to hold those responsible accountable. I encourage you to email her as well.

I have not yet heard back from Ms. Waterman; if I do, I will update this post.

If she refuses to hold anyone accountable for this incompetence, I will take the matter up with the Library Board of Trustees. But note well that the rot may go deeper still: I may have to take up the whole issue with the various elected officials who appoint the board members, and who are apparently authorized by Indiana law to dismiss board members who act in a way that jeopardizes public confidence.

Stay tuned.

Update (10 December 2021). Edra Waterman, the director of HEPL, has responded. Ms. Waterman did not say whether she would hold anyone accountable for this incompetence. However, she confirmed that HEPL has moved the book Drawn to Sex to the adult section of the library, and she said “We are reviewing our internal procedures to determine how this error may have happened and what we need to change going forward.” Additionally, she said that HEPL is reviewing the other two titles I identified. I am glad that Ms. Waterman is looking into the matter; we will see whether she decides to hold anyone accountable when her “review” is complete.

Further updates here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.