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American Library Association opens door to sex crimes 8/17/2000 Is your neighborhood library becoming a breeding ground for sexual predators? It could be, if the American Library Association (ALA) maintains its staunch opposition to Internet filtering. For the sake of “intellectual freedom,” the association is willing to put patrons, including children, in harm’s way. The ALA misguidedly believes that patrons, even minors, have a constitutional right to pornography. This is why the association strongly opposes filters, because it claims filtering would also block information protected by the First Amendment. David Burt, a former librarian, authored a report for the Family Research Council in March, Dangerous Access, 2000 Edition: Uncovering Internet Pornography in America’s Libraries. His report revealed that, while 74 percent of public libraries provide access to the Internet, only 15 percent of those libraries use a porn-blocking software. Burt’s report uncovered a disturbing number of incidents that occurred at libraries with unfiltered access to the Internet:
The ALA largely dismisses these reports. Said Judith Krug, director of ALA’s Office of Intellectual Freedom, “Their number is so small that it is almost laughable.” She said “only one child out of a trillion billion” might use the library computers to access pornography (Quote from Burt’s report). Judging from this statement, it would appear that the ALA is not interested in protecting even one child from pornography. But, the number of reported incidents is not the issue. The issue is the risk of harm—a risk some librarians are willing to take. “There are going to be risks to anything, but I would choose to take risks to have [children] get to something some people would deem inappropriate, rather than blocking them to information they really need,” said librarian Pat Scales at ALA’s annual conference last month. When a fellow librarian asked Scales for a “perfectly legitimate reason why a 7-year-old should view [sexually graphic sites],” Scales responded, “I think it’s just a risk we have to take” (General Report of the Citizens for Community Values, 7/27/00). But the citizens of Greenville, S.C., are not taking any risks. They were successful in getting software to filter obscene material from their public library. After learning of adult men viewing pornography on the library computers—one of whom had been convicted of distributing obscene materials to minors—they complained to the librarian. When their complaint fell on deaf ears, they took action. The citizens elected new members to the library board. The new board fired the director and launched a study to determine the extent of the problem. As a result, the board installed filtering (Break Point with Chuck Colson Commentary #000809, 8/9/00). Kathy Valente, a steering committee member for CWA of Illinois, and founder and executive director of Citizens for Community Values in Lansing, Illinois, attended the annual ALA conference—which reaffirmed its policy against filters, even for children. “The ALA is badly out of step with its own librarians and the public at large,” she said. CWA’s local chapters have also been instrumental in getting filtering software installed in their public libraries. In Virginia, State Director Patricia Phillips and other CWA members sent post card alerts to Loudoun County citizens to notify them of a library board hearing on filtering software. Some of the citizens testified about the harmful effects of unfiltered library computers. “[Library board members] can be persuaded with reason and logic [about the harmful effects of having unfiltered computers],” Phillips said. “At the local level, [appointed] people are not too political in nature. They [serve on the library board] more out of community service.” The Loudoun County library was unsuccessful in its earlier attempt to block pornographic sites so that neither children nor adults could access smut on library time. In November 1998, U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema ruled that libraries violated the First Amendment by installing filtering software. Although the county did not appeal the decision, it continued to fight and succeeded in having a “reasonable” filtering policy implemented. Under the policy, a provision in the library card application requires a parent’s permission for a child to access the Internet on library computers. Also, patrons may request that filtering software be turned off computers they wish to use. CWA of Louisiana State Director Lennie Ditoro and approximately 124 CWA members fought a county library policy that permitted minors to rent R-rated videos without parental consent. They wrote letters and made phone calls to the library board to show their support of an ordinance that would adopt the motion picture industry’s standard for R-rated videos: Parents must sign a release form for children to rent them. Because of the diligence of CWA members, the ordinance passed 12-0! Ditoro said following the 12-0 ordinance, the library board became “agreeable” to putting filtering software on child-designated computers. However, as in Loudoun County, adults may request unfiltered computers. Mrs. Valente said the ALA has no legal authority, but most libraries choose to adhere to its policies. Both Valente and Ditoro agree that the libraries’ primary obligation is to their communities, not the ALA. “Elected officials need to appoint individuals [to the library board] who want to serve the community,” said Ditoro, adding, “ALA’s power extends as far as the public’s ignorance [about the association’s political agenda].” Since patrons tend to verbalize their complaints, and librarians generally do not record them, Ditoro and Phillips say patrons need to write their library boards to express their concerns—and then contact their elected officials. The fight for filtering is not finished. Valente encourages parents not to give up at library board meetings when pushing for filters—after all, their tax dollars support the public libraries. “People don’t want their tax dollars to pay for other people’s tantalization,” she said. “Insist that [your] tax money be used appropriately.” Parents must accompany their children to the libraries. In addition, Mrs. Valente listed three steps for parents: push for filters, push for strong policies on Internet use, and require adult supervision when minors use the library computers. For information on ridding your libraries of smut, contact one of our leaders in your area. |
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