It was a mob scene Thursday at Kirk Cameron’s reading of his God-focused children’s book at the Indianapolis Public Library — except this mob didn’t do what mobs do; rather it was just smiles, cheering, and laughter all around.
Folks even sang “God Bless America”:
Brave Books — Cameron’s publisher for his “As You Grow” children’s book — earlier this month said
two public libraries agreed to let him do readings for kids after initially saying no to the actor and outspoken Christian.
Cameron
told Fox News Digital he “won” after challenging the libraries’ denials and threatening to “assert” his “rights in court” — not to mention the libraries hosted drag queen story hours in June, according to the cable network.
One of the libraries to agree to Cameron’s reading was the Indianapolis Public Library; the other was Scarsdale (New York) Public Library, where Cameron was scheduled to do a reading Friday.
Check out Cameron addressing the huge crowd at the Indy library:
“You guys! They’re gonna let me speak over the loudspeaker, the PA, because there’s about 1,000 people in the library on other floors that haven’t gotten up here, so I’m gonna be talking to everybody in just a few minutes, and I just wanna thank them for coming and thank you for coming and making this such a special event today!”
One attendee tweeted that “library staff has informed patrons that there will not be room for all guests to enjoy the book reading. As you can see, the building appears well beyond capacity.”
Over 50 public libraries across the U.S. either rejected Cameron’s requests for a story-hour program for children or did not respond to his publisher’s inquiries, Fox News said, citing Brave Books.
Initially, the Indianapolis library employee who spoke to Brave Books about Cameron’s reading said, “We are really looking at authors who are diverse. Authors of color. That’s really been our focus,” the cable network reported.
When Brave Books countered that Cameron’s book also adds to diversity of ideas and beliefs, the library representative replied, “Well, we are focusing on racial equity,” Fox News said.
Fox News Digital said it reached out to both libraries for comment.