Children's Book Flagged by Alabama Library Because Author's Name is 'Gay'

Children's Book Flagged , by Alabama Library Because, Author's Name is 'Gay'.
NBC reports that Alabama's public library system
flagged a children's book as being "potentially
explicit" due to the author's last name being "Gay.".
'Read Me a Story, Stella,' a picture book
by Marie-Louise Gay, is about a girl
teaching her younger brother how to read. .
The book is the seventh volume in a series
that has sold over 2 million copies and
has been translated into ten languages.
The Alabama Political Reporter first revealed that
the book was added to a list of literature to be
reviewed and potentially removed from the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library system.
According to the library system's public
relations director, the list was never intended
"as a directive to move or remove materials." .
The inclusion of the author’s
name was the result of a keyword
search to identify potentially
targeted subject areas. , Jay Hixon, Huntsville-Madison County Public
Library system’s public relations director, via NBC.
The review encompassed
a number of different factors.
The list was just a preliminary
step to identify materials
that might be challenged, Jay Hixon, Huntsville-Madison County Public
Library system’s public relations director, via NBC.
According to local news outlets, a majority of
the 246 books on the list included keywords
such as "lesbian," "gay," "gender" and "identity.".
On September 28, the library system said in a news
release that the book review had been stopped and all
of the books would be returned to their original locations.
Last month, a report by the American Library
Association found that book challenges have reached
a historic high, increasing by 20% since last year.