At a U.S. Senate committee hearing on Sept. 9, 2023, Sen. John Kennedy read a sexually explicit quote from the book “All Boys Aren’t Blue.”

My original letter to the editor contained the exact quote from the book, but, when I submitted this letter to News Publisher/Editor Justin Hinkley, he responded, “We can’t publish this as-is. The quote from the book is too explicit to be published in the newspaper.”

So, the quote from the book is too explicit to be in the newspaper BUT this book is in the TEEN section of the Alpena Public Library, where a child of any age can read it.

Recently, I met with the librarian and some of her staff to request that the book be moved into the downstairs adult section of the library. The written response that came from the library after this meeting stated that the library would NOT move this book to the adult section.

Which section do you think it belongs in? Alpena Public Library: 989-356-6188.

JULIE BYRNES,

Alpena