Colchester First Selectman Andreas Bisbikos said, “The book in question was immediately removed from circulation.”

That sounds more than a bit like censorship.

But no, Bisbikos maintains, it’s not.

Pulling a book about LGBTQ icon, entertainer and drag queen RuPaul off a display of children’s books was not “book banning;” the Cragin Memorial Library director was simply asked to temporarily remove the book only from the children’s section, according to Bisbikos.

The book was deemed by a parent as inappropriate for young readers because it contains purportedly sexually provocative imagery.

Following that parent’s complaint to Bisbikos, he told Library Director Kate Byroade to remove it and to conduct a review of the more than 20,000 books in the library’s children’s collection and all the images in those books, according to Byroade.

The RuPaul biography — part of a Pride display at the library for the month of June — depicts a cosmetic advertisement RuPaul was featured in years ago in which women dressed in bustiers and thigh high boots spell out the word “VIVA,” Byroade has said.

The library director, however, also has pointed out that “objectified images of women” are seen in other books that have not been pulled from shelves — including those featuring female superheroes.

She’s right about that, and we all know such images of women are not limited to books about superheroes.

The targeting of the RuPaul book brought immediate pushback from LGBTQ advocates, including Patrick Dunn, executive director of the New Haven Pride Center. Dunn pointed out how important the representation of LGBTQ people in children’s literature is to the health, wellbeing and survival of young LGBTQ people and youths with same sex or transgender families.

“The idea that a young person might be able to go to their public library and be browsing through the shelves and see someone that looks like them could literally save a life,” Dunn told The Courant. “Seeing representation in your community is lifesaving.”

Dunn makes an important point as LGBTQ adults and children continue to be targeted by bullying and worse in this state and country: Equality, acceptance and understanding are needed, and books can help communities reach those goals.

But what about the parent who found the book offensive to children?

Byroade said that before Bisbikos’ demand about the RuPaul book, there already was a process in place for dealing with such concerns.

When complaints about a book’s content come in, Byroade and another library staffer review the book for overall content and follow a sometimes lengthy procedure to evaluate the book’s place in the library’s collection. The decisions are not made lightly, she has pointed out. Byroade has since received just such a complaint about the RuPaul book and will start the review process.

For his part, Bisbikos has said he does not think the book is appropriate for young readers (it’s target age is fourth grade and older).

“The issue of this book, for me, really has to do with its placement: Does it belong in the children’s section or does it not?” Bisbikos told The Courant. “I don’t believe that an image like that belongs in the children’s section of the library. But I would have no concern with it being in another section of the library.”

Bisbikos is right that he should play no role in which books are bought or displayed in the town library and also that the parent’s complaint about the book should be seriously considered. But Byroade also is right that there is a process in place for the library to follow and that is what she intends to do.

She will not be rushed, and that bodes well for this library and decisions about the books and other materials it contains. The library staff should make the decision and not a parent.

“This is a process. This is not, turn around 30 minutes later and pull the book,” she said.

And while for now the book is “internally checked out” meaning it is not on display, it can be viewed at the library upon request.

Even better, there have been patrons who sought to borrow the book this week, and copies are being sent out from other libraries in the state, according to Byroade.