The library board in the Chicago suburb of Downers Grove has appointed a new board member, attorney Arthur Jaros, Jr., in spite of controversy over his leading role in challenging a book in the supplementary reading curriculum of a local school district more than a decade ago. In 1999, Jaros and other members of the Downers Grove community moved to remove the graphic novel Blue Star Rapture from the curriculum of District 99 school’s on the ground that the offensive language it contained made it inappropriate for teaching in public schools. The 1999 challenge was unsuccessful; the District 99 school board voted unanimously to retain the title. But despite its failure, the role Jaros played in the challenge raised concerns among some members of the community about his fitness as a library board member. Among the most vocal opponents of the nomination was outgoing board president Kathleen DiCola, an attorney and member of the Downers Grove Library board for the last 20 years. In an open letter to the Downers Grove community, DiCola implored community members to tell their council members not to approve Jaros’s nomination. “In 1999, Mr. Jaros was a leader in an effort to ban a particular book from a reading list at District 99, and to require the teachers to 'expurgate' from instructional materials anything considered to be anti-Christian or indecent,” DiCola wrote. DiCola’s letter succeded in bringing in a great many comments from the community. More than 150 people emailed the Downers Grove village council, which is responsible for approving such appointments. That’s a volume of correspondence that commissioner Bob Barnett called “absolutely unprecedented.” It wasn’t enough, though, to put the kibosh on the appointment—Jaros was named to the library board on August 18. He was one of 20 appointees to a variety of boards and committees around the village under a single resolution that passed by a vote of five to two. In fact, the council didn’t even have time to review the flood of emails it had received before the vote. Earlier in the meeting, a motion to table the resolution until the council could review the emails failed, also by a vote of five to two. Downers Grove Mayor Martin Tully, who nominated Jaros for the position, has said that he doesn’t see the attorney’s attempt to remove a title from a public school curriculum as equivalent to asking for a ban on the title. Tully has accused opponents of the nomination of being motivated by politics, rather than real concern for the library board. "To suggest he's trying to ban books is a mean-spirited stretch," Tully told The Chicago Tribune. That approval hasn’t stopped criticism of Jaros, both locally and nationally. Sarah Hoffman, Youth Free Expression Program Manager for the National Coalition Against Censorship, penned a blog post questioning Jaros’s fitness as a library trustee, writing that his role in the 1999 challenge demonstrates a willingness to “try to force his viewpoint on others regardless of the educational value of the book in question.” Jaros, though, hasn’t taken the criticism lying down, responding to questions about the appropriateness of his appointment in The Chicago Tribune’s community comment section. “While I took the position sixteen years ago that [Blue Star Rapture] should not have been the subject of a mandatory reading assignment by a classroom teacher without prior parental notice, it is not the kind of book that I would ever advocate be removed from the shelves of our public library, no matter how distasteful to me personally.” DiCola stepped down from the board herself in protest. She told LJ, "The Downers Grove Public Library is a vital community resource. Library board members must be committed to providing the community the widest possible exchange of ideas and information, without regard for personal agendas or beliefs. For nearly 20 years I had the pleasure to serve with board members dedicated to that ideal."