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It was the same story you often hear: residents of a small town demanding that gay books be removed from the local public library. Some even called for the offending books to be burned.
 But there was a different ending this time. Library officials refused to pull 82 titles from the shelves, saying that a library should "have materials for all people."
 A Wisconsin group, headed by Ginny Maziarka, launched its first complaint in early February. Maziarka alleged that the West Bend Community Memorial Library makes "propaganda-type" materials on gay topics too easily accessible to young adults.
 Maziarka wanted these books removed, and for information on "ex-gays" to be added to the library's collection.
 "The libary [sic] feels it should indoctrinate the youth in our community with perverted, inappropriate, sex books that steer them into areas of breaking the law; ie, underage sex, push towards homosexual lifestyle in a state that rejects same- sex marriage," wrote Maziarka on her blog.
 Despite pressure from the community, Library Director Michael Tyree and the library's board have refused to remove the books or label them as "sexually explicit," as Maziarka's group later suggested. Having read many of the 82 titles named in the complaint, including The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Rainbow High, Tyree feels the books are "there for a reason.
 "I wish I had books like these when I was a teen, because they would have answered so many questions regarding my own sexuality and others," Tyree tells Guide magazine. "Besides, what's wrong with sex? How do you think thousands of generations of people have arrived on the globe?"
 Tyree said his job is to ensure that the library is open to everyone.
 "Our library is a public library, a library there for everyone in the community, not just a very vocal minority," he continues. "Even if they were a majority, we still would have to have materials for all people. We have to be relentlessly neutral."
 Book challenges because of their gay content are very common, according to Deborah Stone-Caldwell of the American Library Association. Last year, over 500 challenges were reported, including And Tango Makes Three, the children's book about a gay penguin family that topped the organization's 2008 "most challenged" list.
 "Sexuality is a common rallying crying for those who want to prevent access," Caldwell-Stone explains. "It is a matter of free speech that they can bring these objections, but their objections to having this subject matter available in the library is a choice for their children alone. Libraries serve a very diverse community, and while a book may not have value for one person, it may have value for other families."
 Despite being frustrated in her attempts to censor the books, Maziarka is expected to forge ahead with another complaint. She says she is "ready to get back into the fight."