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Who is Marie-Louise Gay? Internet facepalms as children's picture book flagged as potentially 'sexually explicit' in Alabama library

Marie-Louise Gay, a Canadian author and illustrator, had one of her children's books flagged as 'sexually explicit' because of her last name

HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA: Marie-Louise Gay is a Canadian children's author and illustrator, who is renowned for her work in both English and French.

Her 'Read Me a Story, Stella' has been added to a list of potentially 'sexually explicit' books to be removed from the children’s section of the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library system, according to AL.com.

The book in question is a children’s picture book about a pair of siblings reading books together and building a doghouse. The reason for it being flagged is the author's last name, Gay.

The library staff caught the error in time before the book was taken off the shelves.

HCPL executive director Cindy Hewitt acknowledged the mistake, stating, "Obviously, we’re not going to touch that book for any reason."

How did 'Read Me a Story, Stella' get flagged?

Hewitt said that the book was placed on the list of flagged titles because of the keyword 'gay.'

Ten branch managers were asked to use keywords like "sexuality, gender, sex, and dating" when exploring possible books to flag. It seemed that there was a miscommunication and confusion over the process, noted Hewitt.

The effort to review books and their placement in the library was in preparation for “unprecedented” book challenges, she said.

Kirsten Brassard of Groundwood Books, the publicist of Gay, reportedly said that her client’s book has never been “mistakenly censored.”

“Although it is obviously laughable that our picture book shows up on their list of censored books simply because the author’s last name is Gay, the ridiculousness of that fact should not detract from the seriousness of the situation,” read Bassard's statement.

'Read Me a Story, Stella' was first launched in 2013.

The list of flagged books where the book was accidentally added has 232 other titles. It has been getting heat internally as well as from the public, as critics allege that the LGTQ community has been targeted, a charge reportedly denied by Hewitt.

In light of the incident, the process was stopped with librarians moving some books to the adult section while others have not been reclassified.

“We understand and appreciate our community, and the needs of our collection to reflect our community. We were never eliminating any book. We were just looking at it as a whole,” said Hewitt.

Internet reacts to 'Read Me a Story, Stella' being flagged

The HCPL has been left embarrassed by the move on the Internet, as netizens flooded social media with facepalm reactions.

Facepalm gifs from 'Star Trek' to popular memes are the most common reactions to the story on X.

One user also tweeted, "Well, there goes every book about the Enola Gay."

Another aptly summed up, "The tweet that launched a thousand facepalms."