Ian Wishart, author of the controversial book. Photo / APN
Ian Wishart, author of the controversial book. Photo / APN

Aucklanders will be able to stroll into their local library and borrow a copy of the controversial Macsyna King book but Wellingtonians may have to wait.
Ian Wishart's latest book has attracted outrage in some quarters, with more than 41,000 people signing up to a "Boycott the Macsyna King Book" page on the social networking website Facebook.

Auckland Council Libraries was the only organisation contacted by the Herald yesterday that confirmed it would be stocking Breaking Silence: The Kahui Case.
Libraries manager Allison Dobbie said the organisation upheld the principles of the Library Information Association, which stated that "information and resources should not be excluded because of the opinions expressed, who the author is, or on the grounds of political, social, moral or other views of the author".
Wellington City Council libraries will wait until the book is released.

Council spokesman Richard MacLean said no one was "particularly excited" about it and only a couple of requests had been received.
"We'll check to see how public opinion is going and all that and we're in no hurry to make a decision."
The University of Auckland is also undecided but a spokesman said the decision on which books to buy was always made "entirely on merit and academic relevance".
"We would not boycott a book simply because it was controversial or might offend some people."


Full report at NZ Herald.