Board Votes To Keep LGBT Book In Children's Section At Suburban Library
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A LGBT community book found in the children's section of a suburban library caused some controversy.
Members of the West Chicago Library board rejected Monday a request by some parents to remove a book about gay pride from its children's section. WBBM Newsradio's Mike Krauser reports.
The controversy began earlier this summer when a 3-year-old girl found the book, "This Day in June" in the children's section at West Chicago Library.
The girl's mother, Michaela Jaros, a conservative Christian, wrote an online complaint about the book. From there the Jaros' family asked the library's board that the book be removed from the children's section.
"Parents should have confidence in the library to provide family-friendly, age-appropriate material," Jaros said.
"This Day in June" by Gayle E. Pitman is a book that explains the pride celebration, with colorful illustrations of the gay pride parade - a day of unity.
A library board meeting was held Monday. Over 100 attended - some expressed concerns, while supports said they wished a similar book had been available when they were growing up.
"I'm a suicide survivor. If I had had this book back when I was younger, because I knew I was trans, maybe then I would not have felt like this random freak," one attendee said.
The board voted 6-1 to keep the book in the library's children's section. According to the Daily Herald, of the 152 people who attended the meeting, 138 said they favored keeping the book in the children's section while only 13 opposed it.
