Wendy, Dorothy, and Alice's sexual encounters have not been banned from the New Zealand National Library catalogue. "Lost Girls," an erotic fantasy written by Alan Moore and drawn by Melinda Gebbie, has reportedly become the first book pulled from the library catalogue for its explicit sexual content, but the National Library said that it never even owned a copy in the first place.

The said graphic novel isn't for children. It depicts the erotic adventures of three known fairytale characters, namely Alice from "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," Dorothy from "The Wizard of Oz," and Wendy from "Peter Pan."

It's not happily ever after for these three heroines, though. As adults, they meet by chance on the eve of World War I, and begin exchanging their erotic stories. Their past includes sexual abuse and rape, incest, drug addiction, and other sordid encounters.

According to Fairfax NZ News, the controversial tome was purchased in 2008 at the request of a library member, and has never been classified by the censor. The library's decision to self-censor is causing ruckus as members argue that they should be champions of literary freedom.

Regional collections manager for Auckland City Libraries, Louis LaHatte, told Fairfax that the book had never gone to the Office of Film and Literature Classification. The library was just worried that if it was referred to the censor it would be found objectionable, which would mean that the library broke the law.

"We are trying to do the right thing as libraries," Mr LaHatte said. "We are trying to get an idea how likely would it be, particularly if we are applying restrictions on it ourselves to make sure children did not get hold of it, would they really want to prosecute us."

But the National Library of New Zealand has refuted the report.

In a statement released on Monday, Alison Elliott, Director of Content Services, said that the report was incorrect in saying that the book in question was "pulled from the National Library Catalogue" as the National Library never owned a copy of the work.

The National Library was also not involved in any decision to remove the work from any other catalogue.

"Lost Girls" was partially published in the Taboo anthology magazine in 1991 before it was reprinted as two separate volumes later.