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OCALA, Fla. - Marion County commissioners voted Wednesday to keep a compilation of Osama bin Laden's terror-laced writings on the shelves of the county's library system.
The issue was thrust before them by a critic who said he was concerned about whether county policies restrict access to controversial reading materials.
The book, ``Messages to the World: The Statements of Osama Bin Laden,'' was challenged by Brian Creekbaum, 46, a frequent critic of the commissioners who once earned a share of the Florida Library Association's Intellectual Freedom Award for a fight on behalf of a sex education book for children.
On Wednesday, commissioners accused Creekbaum of trying to embarrass them with a dishonest "statement of concern" about the book because he disagrees with their policies.
"This had nothing to do with bin Laden's book," said Commissioner Randy Harris, who has sparred with Creekbaum over restricting children's access to sexually explicit literature.
Harris, up for re-election, cast the lone vote to pull the collection of bin Laden's statements. Four other commissioners voted to leave the book in the library.
The book has been praised in Publishers Weekly as offering "a revealing view of Public Enemy No. 1."
Creekbaum said he only filed the appeal because he wanted to force commissioners to vote on county library policies, which he opposes. He says the policies seek to limit access.
Creekbaum said he deliberately chose the collection by bin Laden, regarded as the mastermind behind the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. County Administrator Pat Howard, a retired Marine Corps general, has said bin Laden's writings don't belong in the public library, Creekbaum said.
Commission Chairman Jim Payton criticized Creekbaum, whose presentation to the board Wednesday included a recording of a 911 call from a woman trapped on the 83rd floor of the south tower of the World Trade Center.
"He's willing to sensationalize the misery of other human beings for his petty agenda and that bothers me," Payton said after the meeting.
"His motivation was purely and simply to embarrass and discredit the board of commissioners because we saw fit to dissolve the library advisory board."
Though Creekbaum admitted he played "a role" to make his point, he argued against bin Laden's essays, saying they "aim to motivate youth to commit terrorist acts."
He compared the essays to ``The Encyclopedia of Mushrooms,'' a 1979 book. Creekbaum said that some readers of the book became ill after eating poisonous fungi.
"I contend that `Messages to the World' is like the mushroom book," he said. "I contend that the bin Laden statements that form the body of the book are dangerously inaccurate in their representation of Islam."
The Marion County library system, which has 160,000 members, has one copy of the book, in which bin Laden encourages Muslims to kill Americans.
"Putting bin Laden's words on paper helps show him for what he is - a Muslim out of the mainstream, distorting the faith to justify murder," a New York Times reviewer wrote.
The translation by James Howarth is edited by Bruce Lawrence, a Duke University professor of Islamic studies.
Despite the criticism of commissioners, Creekbaum declared the vote a victory.
"It's a great day for the freedom to read," he said.
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(c) 2006, The Orlando Sentinel (Fla.). Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service.
