editorial comment No lady, the government does!

Although few parents would object to their teens reading during the summer, more might object to the content in some of this summer’s books for teens.

Issues such as teen sex and drug use are often addressed in coming-of-age literature, but some worry that new novels are not only more graphic, but make such behavior more glamorous.

An example is “Rainbow Party” by Paul Ruditis, which has created a stir among librarians and booksellers. The book is about a group of teens who plan an oral sex party. Discussion of the book has focused on whether its merit as a warning against such behaviors outweighs its graphic content.

Barbara Wakefield, the children services manager for Cleveland County Library system, said racy books for young adults would probably not end up in the library.

“Any kind of really racy thing,” she said, “we wouldn’t be allowed to order.”

Carol Wilson, the Cleveland County library director, said staff members read book reviews in industry publications before deciding which books to purchase.

Sometimes that means just ordering what is most popular, and those might not be so racy.

“If people have requests, we look into it,” Ms. Wakefield said. “We don’t have a lot of money to spend on young adult books, so we usually order books that have won awards or are for the Battle of the Books. We do have popular series like ‘Harry Potter’ or ‘Left Behind.’”

Popular books with teens include Brian Jacques’ “Redwall” series and Ann Brashares’ “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” series, Ms. Wakefield said.

Mrs. Wilson said no one statement or rule could cover all the reasons why the library would not purchase a book.

“If it is full of violence without meaning or is based on cartoons, we won’t buy it,” Mrs. Wilson said. “We try to order things that we know the readers will like, and buy for the community according to its taste and standards.”

A saleswoman at Waldenbooks in Cleveland Mall said a computer chooses the books carried in their store, since the store is a national chain.

As reading for teens becomes more controversial, some groups are calling for libraries to label graphic books similarly to how records with explicit content are labeled.

Ms. Wakefield said a labeling system might be helpful.

“Sometimes parents don’t know what is in the books until their children get them home,” she said. “It could be a good thing.”

Mrs. Wilson said the library would not label young adult books with questionable content, but instead move the books to the adult section of the library.

“Teen books with a little more discussion of drugs, etc.,” she said, “we don’t put those in the children’s section.

“We hope that parents are aware of what their children are reading. We want parents to take that role, because it is not our place to decide what children should read.”

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