Critics said his popularity among boys was due to his "sensational" style. In 1877, one minister wondered why the public library allowed children to read books that could only demoralize and weaken them. He complained about "the endless reams of such drivel poured forth by Horatio Alger, Jr." In 1879, a public library in Vermont was the first library in America to throw away Alger's books. Other public libraries then did the same.