LEWISTON – Efforts to keep a sex education book on the Lewiston Public Library’s shelves has earned a state award for Director Rick Speer.

“Resisting challenges and censorship efforts is kind of one of the guiding principles upon which librarian-ship is built,” Speer said Wednesday. “And Lewiston’s situation was something the entire library community was keeping an eye on in Maine.”

Speer was presented with the ProQuest/SIRS 2008 Intellectual Freedom Award for Maine at the October Maine Libraries Conference.

The library association presents the award annually. It consists of a $500 donation to purchase library materials and a commemorative plaque.

The book, “It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex and Sexual Health,” was challenged by local resident JoAn Karkos who checked the book out of the library last summer and refused to return it. She stated publicly that she found the book obscene and did not feel it was appropriate for the library to stock it.

Karkos’ efforts drew national attention. Some critics of Karkos even donated extra copies of the book to the library. Speer said the copy Karkos took had not been returned. She has lost her privileges at the library until it is, Speer said.

City officials dropped a suit against her in August that would have required her to pay a $100 fine and return the book.