IUB libraries removes promotional video after it is deemed controversial

IUB Libraries removed a promotional video from YouTube after concern it promoted drinking.

The four-minute video showed students in the Herman B Wells Library bouncing ping-pong balls off walls, desks, shelves and down stairs and landing them into a red plastic cup. The video also featured several librarians.

The librarians in the video didn’t see the final product until it was put online, said Eric Bartheld, director of communications for IUB Libraries. He said he edited them into the video.

Some viewers associated the ping-pong shots with a drinking game, Bartheld said. The libraries do not endorse inappropriate behavior, he said.

“We believe the video to be very entertaining,” Bartheld said. “But, it proved in part to be a bit controversial. We decided to do the right thing and remove it from the site.”

The video was up for about four days before it was taken down on Aug. 28.