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TO: PARMLY BILLINGS LIBRARY BOARD FROM: BILL COCHRAN, LIBRARY DIRECTOR JIM PETERS, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR RE: STATEMENT OF CONCERN REGARDING WORMWOOD: GENTLEMAN CORPSE MEETING DATE: MAY 8, 2008 Attached is a copy of a “Statement of Concern About Library Resources” submitted by Melissa Olsen. BACKGROUND Ms. Olsen checked out the book Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse from the Teen Pit and read “most all of it.” She found it “extremely inappropriate for use by a minor.” She continues by saying that it contains “sex, foul language, violence to the extreme, alcohol use, illegal activities.” She feels that it is “a shame my teen can find this material, which is clearly above rated R, in the Teen Pit.” She asks that the Library “remove this item from the teen room & relocate it in the adult graphic novel section.” The book displays the exploits of a “gentleman corpse” known as Wormwood, who, along with his two sidekicks, come across a plot by a “cabal of demons” to infiltrate the world of humans and “lay waste to it.” A review in Publishers Weekly states that “this material could come off as rank at worst and derivative at best, just another horror comic with a yen for desecrated corpses.” The review then goes on to point out that the author “tweaks a surprising amount of humor out of the overdone scenarios.” The artwork is both ingenious and macabre, but it also contains elements that echo Ms. Olsen’s concerns. This book was added to the collection in October 2007 and has circulated 5 times since then, showing some degree of popularity. Many of the graphic novels in the Teen Pit were selected because they have been recommended for teens. This does not seem to be the case with this book. RECOMMENDATION Staff could find only one review of this particular book and it did not indicate that its intended audience was teens. Staff recommends approving Ms. Olsen’s suggestion that the book be moved from the Teen Pit to the adult graphic novel section on the first floor, an area where it will be found more easily by what appears to be its intended audience, adult fans of graphic novels.