'Disinvite' makes Salt Lake County library look silly

Last week we heard the surprising news that the Salt Lake County Library System, which early in the year selected Mark Spragg's latest book "An Unfinished Life" for its "One County, One Book" reading program, had disinvited the author and selected a different book. (The prolific Spragg has also written two other highly acclaimed novels.)

Two weeks after he was invited, a library-system employee canceled Sprague's selection by e-mail.

When Spragg's book was selected, 1,000 copies were purchased to enable patrons to have easy access. Jim Cooper, director of the library system, told Deseret Morning News reporter Lucinda Dillon Kinkead that a county staffer "had jumped the gun" and informed Spragg of the selection after "an informal committee" had made a decision. He added that he had decided to go with a book that was "a little fresher" — Yann Martell's "Life of Pi."

In my own interview with him, Cooper explained what he meant by "a little fresher," that the library system had already promoted Spragg's book in an earlier program. He said he was not concerned that "Life of Pi" is an older book than "An Unfinished Life."

When I heard this story, I suspected that Spragg's book had been selected by people who had never read the book. Cooper assured me that was not true. He said he had read it himself last year. "And I even saw the movie."

So why did he offer an invitation to Spragg and then rescind it?

Cooper told me that a committee had actually not made the selection. "An individual did and then informed Spragg. There was no offer made to pay his way."

When Cooper found out about the invitation, he discussed the matter with librarians, and one person who had listened to an audio version of the book said it contained profanity. "A newly formed committee then selected 'Life of Pi,' but it was not a censorship issue."

Cooper seemed vague about the 1,000 copies of "An Unfinished Life" that the library system ordered. "We have 150 copies still in the system, so we canceled the order."

I asked Cooper if he had made personal contact with Spragg to apologize; he said he hadn't. "He's a friend of Betsy Burton's (owner of The King's English Bookshop). I'll talk to her, and if she says I should apologize, I'll do it."

Did it worry Cooper that he had made an invitation to a well-respected author and then rescinded it? "No," he said. "I didn't even think about it at the time."

When pressed, he said the incident was "regretful — not embarrassing. It was an administrative issue."