CAMDEN Council says it has no plans to remove books by disgraced entertainer Rolf Harris and reviled TV presenter Jimmy Savile’s autobiography from its libraries.

The Town Hall has several copies of Harris’s book Buster Fleabags – a memoir about a dog he had while growing up in Western Australia – available for loan across six branches.

It is also stocking Jim’ll Fix It host Savile’s autobiography, As It Happens, at Swiss Cottage.

Leisure chief Councillor Abdul Hai said it was not up to Camden to censor books that had not been banned, and the council was acting in line with other local authorities.

He said: “Camden’s library service has to strike a balance on which titles should be made available to the public and not restrict access except when stated by law. If publicly available material has not been banned, then it is not for the council to exclude this on moral, political, religious, racial or gender grounds and it is up to the individual if they wish to loan a particular item.”

In the late 1980s, Camden Council compiled a report suggesting Enid Blyton’s adventure stories and copies of the Whizzer and Chips comic should be cesnored from its libraries for being “ideologically unsound” and "sexist".

Harris, 85, is currently serving a five-year prison sentence for 12 historic indecent assaults. Claims that Savile was a prolific abuser of teenagers and young people surfaced after his death four years ago, a revelation that led to the Operation Yewtree investigation into allegations of child sexual abuse running over the past 40 years.

In theory, Harris can still earn 6p every time one of his books is borrowed under the Public Lending Right scheme that rewards authors whose titles are popular among library users. 

Supporters of freedom of speech question where the line would be drawn with censoring books by authors who have fallen from grace.

Conservative councillor Jonny Bucknell, who has volunteered at Belsize Library, said that the issue was controversial and a hard one to make a judgment on, but Camden should look at how often books are taken out.

He added: “When you look at the library stock, I think people should help out by donating books. 

“If they could give more bestsellers after they had read them, it would really help. 

“When they’ve read a book – and I’m not talking about ones with sentimental value – people should put a label on them with the date. If after two years they haven’t touched them again, they should give them to the local library.”

A Town Hall spokesman said: “The library service regularly reviews the nature of library stock, especially if a complaint has been received, and will take steps to remove items from the open bookshelves if they contravene legislation.”

He added that the choice of library stock was based on “borrowing statistics” reviewed on a “regular basis”.

He added: “The service will make a decision about whether to keep titles on the open shelves, keep in reserve, sell as unwanted stock, or donate to book charities based on issuing performance. 

“In the majority of cases trained bibliographic staff manage this process. If the need arises the head of service, in consultation with senior management and the cabinet member, would make a decision.”