Sharpsburg Library Says Someone Is Moving Books Around In Possible Attempt At Censorship

SHARPSBURG, Pa. (KDKA) - The Cooper Siegel Library branch in Sharpsburg said some of their books are not going in the right spots, and it's not an accident. Some books that talk about race, women and LGBTQ+ issues have lately ended up nowhere near their proper spots.

According to the branch manager, the incidents started in February and have continued into March. Now the Sharpsburg police are involved. The library said during Black History Month in February, "The 1619 Project," which details the Black experience in the United States, was moved to a used book sale. A few days later, a children's biography of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was replaced in a display by a children's biography of Adolf Hitler.

Moving into March, topics of women and the LGBTQ+ community came under attack. Someone put a written complaint on a children's book about anatomy and puberty. The note allegedly said, "do not read." The library said the books in question were written for children of all ages.

The library provided this statement:

"Cooper-Siegel Community Library (of which Sharpsburg is a branch) firmly upholds the community's right to access information and the American Library Association's Library Bill of Rights, even when the content is controversial, unorthodox, or unacceptable to others.... If a member of the community is concerned with an item in our collection, we invite them to have a conversation with our staff."

"A library's job is to provide information to the public. It's not our job to determine what's the best information or what in my opinion is a good book. That's not why we put books in the library," Amy Anderson, the CEO of the Allegheny County Library Association, said over Zoom.

The Sharpsburg police confirm a police report has been filed.

According to the library, sometime in the future, they will have a town hall on the topic of censorship.