A history book called Manga: Sixty Years of Japanese Comics, has been pulled from library shelves by the County Board of Supervisors. The Library Journal reported that Board Chair Bill Postmus said the book had "obscene images," including "reproductions of pornographic cartoons depicting sex acts, including sex with animals."
Postmus said he particularly didn't like the page where the cartoon character was having sex with the hamster.
County Librarian Ed Kieczykowski agreed to withdraw the book. "This is one of those books that could go either way," he told the Library Journal, adding that because the library system shares a catalog with the Riverside County Library System, residents could still access the book.
Judith Krug, director of the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom, said this was the first manga-related book withdrawal that had come to her attention.
