Council statements on David Walliams books.

Telford and Wrekin Council has decided to remove the author's books while Shropshire Council seeks guidance.

Children’s author and TV star Walliams, who has been dropped by his publisher HarperCollins, has denied allegations that he ‘harassed’ young women.

While Shropshire Council on Friday was “seeking guidance from the Government” Telford and Wrekin has taken a decision.

A Telford & Wrekin Council spokesperson said: “We can confirm that, following recent media coverage and allegations published in the press, we have taken the decision to remove all David Walliams books and audio books from our library catalogues.”

The Press Association has reported that education leaders nationally are seeking guidance from the Government on whether books written by Walliams should be removed from school libraries.

A spokesperson for Shropshire Council said it recognises that parents, carers, schools and students themselves may have questions about whether David Walliams’ books should be available to children.

“We are awaiting further guidance from the Department for Education. It is the responsibility of individual schools and Trusts to make a decision in relation to their school library book stock.

“We understand that this is a contentious issue, and people will have their own views. However, Shropshire Council’s Library Service follows national and professional guidelines: this guidance states that books should remain available unless their content is illegal.

“Collections are refreshed to reflect demand. We understand demand for Walliams’s books has fallen significantly in recent years, so we expect fewer copies in circulation as newer, more popular titles replace them, particularly now he is without a publisher.”

It added that its guidelines state that “Access should not be restricted on any grounds except that of the law. If publicly available material has not incurred legal penalties then it should not be excluded.”

Libraries Connected, a charity which supports, promotes and represents public libraries, said: “Libraries follow established professional and ethical principles around stock availability – the starting point is that all books should be made available to readers unless the content of those books is illegal.

“But libraries continually refresh their collections in response to what their users want to read.

“In this case, we understand that demand for Walliams’s books has fallen significantly in recent years.

“We would therefore expect the number of copies in circulation to decline naturally as they are replaced by newer and more popular titles – particularly as he is now without a publisher.”