Councils across the North East have confirmed that David Walliams' books will not be removed from public libraries, with copies expected to "decline naturally" as demand falls.
Following the publication of allegations of sexual misconduct against the comedian and children's author, local authorities have stated his books will remain available. Several councils noted that Walliams' books have declined in popularity in recent years and are likely to be replaced by newer titles.
No Removal Without Legal Basis
The councils also emphasised that books are generally not removed unless their content is illegal. A spokesperson for Newcastle City Council said: "Newcastle Libraries follows the established guidelines set out by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) on professional and ethical principles around stock availability.
"As a publicly funded library and information service, it is our role to provide, as far as resources allow, access to all publicly available information, where it is factual or fiction that is of legitimate interest to our users.
"Books should only be removed if the content of the book is illegal. We cannot remove books on moral, religious, racial or gender grounds or because of the demands of a section of the public or library users. If we do remove or restrict access to a book, we need to be clear about the legal basis for doing this. We are not aware of any current legal reason to remove Walliams' books."
Declining Demand and Natural Replacement
The spokesperson added: "We continually refresh our collections in response to what our users want to read. This means that over time some books will be replaced with more popular titles. Demand for Walliams's books has fallen significantly in recent years and, as he is now without a publisher, the number of copies in circulation and available in our libraries is expected to decline naturally."
North Tyneside, South Tyneside, Gateshead, Northumberland and Durham councils have all issued similar statements. Sunderland City Council was also approached for comment.
Legal Action Background
Walliams, 55, had brought legal action against Independent Television News (ITN) and Guardian News and Media, publisher of The Guardian, prior to the news organisations reporting allegations against him. Lawyers for ITN and The Guardian previously told the High Court the allegations involved Walliams' alleged "abuse of power and status" to contact young women to attempt "inappropriate and exploitative sexual activities."
Walliams has denied the claims and unsuccessfully sought an injunction to prevent these publications because of the risk he would take his own life, after two previous suicide attempts. The author was granted anonymity during the proceedings, which was lifted after his injunction bid was dismissed and GNM and ITN published their investigations on Tuesday.
