'Mommy porn' bestseller Fifty Shades of Grey BANNED in Florida county libraries

Banned: A Florida county has banned E.L. James' Fifty Shades of Grey throughout its 17 libraries because of its highly erotic content

A national bestseller which has dominated charts since its release has been banned in 17 Florida libraries after being deemed too 'pornographic.'



Fifty Shades of Grey, the first novel in an erotic fiction trilogy by new British writer EL James, has been removed in all Brevard County public libraries

'It's quite simple, it doesn't meet our selection criteria,' said Cathy Schweinsberg, the library services director in Brevard County speaking to the Palm Beach Post.

Despite this, requests for the book have stormed the libraries with a few copies still checked out to patrons - with the staff eagerly awaiting their return, according to county spokesman Don Walker speaking to the New York Daily News .

'Nobody asked us to take it off the shelves, but we bought some copies before we realized what it was. We looked at it, because it's been called "mommy porn" and "soft porn." We don't collect porn,' Mrs Schweinsberg said.



Removed: Despite the high demand for the novel that has dominated best seller lists across the country, the book has been removed (the Cocoa Beach branch pictured)

Written for mature audiences, as its jacket describes, the novel follows a steamy relationship between a described naive college student - and initial virgin - named Anastasia Steele and a young, successful entrepreneur named Christian Grey whom she finds 'beautiful, brilliant, and intimidating.'

'"I'd like to bite that lip," he whispers darkly. ... Jeez, I'm a quivering, moist mess, and he hasn't even touched me. I squirm in my seat and meet his dark glare,' one passage in the book reads.



Options: Other books available in the libraries, despite their own famous controversies, are Lolita, The Complete Karma Sutra, and Tropic of Cancer

Since its release last month, its sold more than 3 million copies in all formats.

According to the Palm Beach Post, while the books can no longer be found on the Brevard County's website, the libraries do offer copies of 'The Complete Karma Sutra,' and other famously controversial books like 'Tropic of Cancer,' and 'Lolita,' a 1955 novel about a man who falls in love with and attempts to seduce a 12-year-old girl.



Asked the difference between those books and Fifty Shades of Grey, Mrs Schweinsberg called the others classics, reasoning: 'I think because those other books were written years ago and became classics, because of the quality of the writing,' she said.

'This is not a classic,' she said of EL James' book.

With Brevard County showing the first reported ban on the book, criticism of it has otherwise rippled off its origins as a Twilight novel-inspired FanFiction, first written by the author before adapting it into the story it's in now.



Most recently Fifty Shades of Grey knocked The Hunger Games off first place for USA Today's top seller list after a 16 week reign.