Controversial books in the public library: A comparative survey of holdings of gay-related children's picture books

This study examines an area of book publishing that has generated some cont roversy for public libraries. A checklist of thirty English-language childr en's picture books with gay characters or gay-related contents is presented . "Picture book" is broadly defined to include highly illustrated works of various degrees of difficulty which are directed to an audience aged from a pproximately four to eleven. Titles were checked against the catalogs of 10 1 public library systems to determine number of titles and number of copies of titles held. libraries were drawn from each of the fifty American state s and ten Canadian provinces, with some representation also from New Zealan d, Australia, and Britain. Comparisons of holdings among library systems sh ow large differences. Similarly, comparisons among titles show some works t o be much more widely held than others, and, in support of Serebnick's earl ier findings, there is a pattern of increase in the number of holding libra ries when there is an increase in number of mainstream library journal revi ews. The rating scheme applied to the reviews from six mainstream journals offers some guidance to the reader and highlights divergence of critical op inion with regard to some titles.