Controversial book in high demand in Tri-state | News

CINCINNATI, OH (FOX19)- A New York Times bestseller is being pulled off library shelves in Florida due to its racy sexual content and S&M themes.

Locally FOX19 called libraries in Hamilton, Warren, Butler, Clermont, Campbell, Kenton, Boone and Dearborn counties to see if any Tri-state branches have done the same thing.

Not a single branch has removed the book, but Clermont County libraries only have an electronic version of the novel by author E.L. James.

Described as an erotic romance the book is for a mature audience and is currently in high demand in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky.

Kenton County Public Library Executive Director Dave Schroeder says 200 people are on the waiting list to read Fifty Shades of Grey.

And with only 32 copies in the entire county, those 200 people are willing to wait.

The Cincinnati Public Library initially ordered 42 copies but quickly bought more as the demand continued to pour in.

Assistant Director of Library Services Greg Edwards says people are willing to wait up to 18 weeks to read this book.

"There's 200 copies checked out and there's another 1,300 people waiting for those copies," says Edwards.

So while some libraries are banning the book, readers like Sarah Berg think it should available for free through all the local branches.

"If we start limiting people to what they can read then it kind of turns people away and kind of turns people off," says Berg.

Fifty Shades of Grey is the first novel in a three part trilogy from E. L. James who also wrote Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed.

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