Arts & Entertainment
Fifty Shades of Grey Available at Sarasota Libraries
National news outlets report that four Florida counties declined to buy best-selling erotic fiction novel.
The debate Wednesday over whether libraries should carry best-selling erotic thriller Fifty Shades of Grey is getting as hot and steamy as the book itself.
At least four counties in Florida, in addition to counties in other states, have declined buying the book or have banned it, The Associated Press reported today.
The book is about the wild sex life of a college literature student after meeting a wealthy entrepreneur and has been dubbed "mommy porn" for its popularity among middle-aged women. The E.L. James novel is a No. 1 New York Times Best Seller.
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Brevard County's library services director Cathy Schweinsburg told Florida Today that the book didn't fit their content criteria:
"Nobody asked us to take it off the shelves. But we bought some copies before we realised what it was. We looked at it, because it's been called 'mommy porn' and 'soft porn.' We don't collect porn."
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You can still get the book at Sarasota County Libraries, but it's in high demand.
According to the libary system's search system, SUNCAT, 193 hold requests have been placed for 15 copies. Seven additional copies were ordered on April 27 to accomodate demand providing a total of 16 copies.
Most counties in Florida have high demand for the novel, The Associated Press reports:
To be sure, most major libraries in Florida and across the country are carrying the novel. The Pinellas County, Fla., library system has 30 copies and more than 650 people on a waiting list. Broward County carries 26 copies and has more than 730 people waiting.
Though, it shouldn't be any surprise the novel is in high demand in the Tampa Bay region considering that Men's Journal reports that Tampa is the eighth smuttiest city in America and St. Petersburg ranks at No. 60.
Florida, overall, was the most salacious state, according to the magazine's "Smut Census" where Orlando ranked No. 1 in the nation, Miami at No. 12 and Jacksonville at No. 52.
CHIME IN: Should library's carry Fifty Shades of Grey or is banning the book crossing the line?
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