SINGAPORE - Three children's titles recently removed by the National Library Board (NLB) as they were deemed not "pro-family" will not be put back on the public libraries' shelves.

The three titles are: And Tango Makes Three, The White Swan Express: A Story About Adoption, and Who's In My Family: All About Our Families.

In a press conference held at the children's section of the Toa Payoh Public Library, Ms Jasna Dhansukhlal, assistant director of NLB's public library services, said the books will go through a "discarding process" where they will be pulped.

When asked about the three other titles that The Straits Times reported today, Ms Jasna said they are currently "not in the catalogue".

When asked if they were previously included in NLB's collection and were subsequently removed, Ms Jasna said she does not know and will have to check.

The three other titles, all of which are sex education books, are: It's not the stork! A book about girls, boys, babies, bodies, families, and friends, It's so amazing! A book about eggs, sperm, birth, babies, and families, It's perfectly normal: a book about changing bodies, growing up, sex and sexual health.

The Straits Times understands that these books were withdrawn from the public libraries as early as April this year. The books were removed after NLB received email complaints from the public about them that they were not "pro-family". The books contained references to same-sex couples.

Two copies of And Tango Makes Three and one copy of The White Swan Express: A Story About Adoption - were brought to the press conference for reporters to browse through.

NLB said these three copies were the only ones it had in its collection.

The books will be pulped after this.