After the incident, activists online raised thousands of dollars to help the library buy replacements.

Shorter University, Georgia, is set to ask its 200 staff to sign statements assuring their employer they are not gay.

The move, which is legal as the university is privately funded, will see anyone who does not adhere to the Personal Lifestyle Statement risking immediate dismissal.

The statement also requires staffers to reject premarital sex and adultery.

It is mandatory for new employees and current employees whose contracts are due to be renewed.

Don Dowless, president of the university, said: “I think that anybody who adheres to a lifestyle that is outside of what the biblical mandate is and of what the board has passed, including the president, would not be allowed to continue here.

“Anything outside that is not biblical, we do not accept. We have a right to hire only Christians.’

By signing the document, employees agree to reject “all sexual activity not in agreement with the Bible, including, but not limited to premarital sex, adultery and homosexuality.”