Incredible stories of misinformation, unsubstantiated claims, and deception.

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The stories!!

Incredible stories of porn in the public library, quips and quotes by those in authority, and ALA misinformation and deception.

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Lisa Racine was there with her kids. She's always there with her kids.
"We're big readers," she explained.

The kids -- four of them, ages 5 to 12 -- aren't in school right now, and you can only watch the Veggie Tales movies so many times. So, the library.

It was about 4:30 that Monday afternoon, Racine said. They'd just left the kiddie area and were headed over to fiction, where Racine was going to get herself something to read.

Then, she glanced. Nudity. Sex. Moving pictures, zooming in on a woman's parts and such. A man in a red T-shirt and a blue ball cap. Watching.

Racine turned away. She ushered the kids out of harm's way. She approached two librarians.

Umm, she said, can you stop that man?

No, she said they told her, we cannot. There was something said about the First Amendment.
2008-07-14: SEX IN LIBRARY! SAY IT AIN'T SO (Mom learns computer users see what they want), by Richard Lake | REVIEW-JOURNAL

(Vancouver WA) To Elena Smith, libraries are bastions of free thought. And to her, unfiltered access to the Internet is a crucial part of that.

Smith, who is a librarian with the Hood River County Library and has worked in libraries for 24 years, says the potential for problems with Internet access has been overblown.

"Public libraries are the last public democratic institution in the United States," she said. "We do need to guard these freedoms." She added that librarians know how to handle people who are threatening or disruptive.

"We're not going to put up with weirdos offending our other patrons, and I just don't think it's a real issue," she said. "I think we are mature enough, and I think librarians are responsible enough to run the organization safely." (Oh yeah... read examples below!!)

2006-01-09: Library board to discuss Internet policy, by MARGARET ELLIS | Columbian staff writer

So back in July, Yvonne LeFever was with her children at the Norwood (PA) Public Library for a program called "Science in the Summer" and after it was over, one of the kids decided to log on to the computer in the children’s section. LeFever just happened to be there when the 14-year-old attempting to access a music video suddenly found herself face to face with a lesbian porn video that some clever boy, girl or adult had managed to download and leave for some unsuspecting child to view.
"It was graphic and left nothing to the imagination," LeFever said.

She did her best to block the screen from the view of the 20 or so children nearby. She hit the close button on one window, but another screen with the same video popped up behind it....

It wasn’t until the 14-year-old thought to hit the keyboard’s escape button that the video finally disappeared.

A bit flustered but otherwise composed, LeFever went to notify the librarian about what happened. The reaction was not what she’d hoped for. Instead of swinging into action and checking to see who might last have used the computer and removing it from use, the head librarian, she said, told her that she didn’t belong back in the children’s section.

When she strongly suggested the computer be turned off and an "out of order" sign placed on it, LeFever said the librarian "just ignored me. She didn’t do a darn thing."
2005-10-14: Library system required to go by the book, editorial by Gil Spencer, Times Columnist

EVANSDALE (IA)--- People don't usually describe a trip to the public library as "obscene" or "violating." But that's the way Kelli Phillips described her recent visit to Evansdale's house of knowledge.

"I took my 4-year-old son to the library and I was sitting at a table behind the computers. I looked up and saw two men were looking at ... pornographic materials, so I reported it to the librarian," Phillips said.
2005-07-17: Por-no-no: A twisted trip through public libraries' battle with Internet pornography, by CYRUS MOUSSAVI, Courier Staff Writer

In early February, a pair of 12-year-old girls sat down at a computer terminal in Bethel Park (PA) Library to review some schoolwork. At the same time, a man sitting next to them viewed nude women wrestling on a Yahoo chat room.

The man, Scott Rickenbach, 38, was charged with disorderly conduct and will appear before District Judge Robert C. Wyda for a hearing tomorrow morning.

Meanwhile, staff members at the library have upgraded their computer filters to block all chat rooms and have set aside certain computers for children 17 and younger.

Now here's a novel statement... "In a library, there's a presumption of safety for minors," he said. (At the County Council meeting on March 15, Allegheny County Councilman Vince Gastgeb introduced a resolution that would deny county funding to the eiNetwork if the filters are not maintained.)

2005-04-21: Blocking all explicit material impossible, library official says, by Nate Guidry, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

2005-03-30: Internet pornography filters urged at all libraries, by Jerome L. Sherman | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Whenever staff at the county library passed near Jeffrey Olson as he scrolled through Internet sites, he would quickly change his screen, but when a nearby computer user saw pictures of naked children, he called the sheriff’s office.
Olson, 30, who was using one of the Washoe County Library’s adult, nonfiltered computers in northwest Reno to download child pornography, was arrested and charged with 13 counts of possession.
2005-04-13: Child porn case spotlights libraries’ Internet policies,
Martha Bellisle | RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL

By a vote of 8–6, the judiciary and civil law committee of the Illinois House of Representatives killed a mandatory internet filtering bill March 2. It was the ninth time filtering legislation was defeated in the state, according to the Illinois Library Association, which had fought the bill. (yep, ALA again!)
2005-03-04: Illinois Filtering Bill Defeated Again, ALA

The American Library Association continues it's leftist rampage...

Fahrenheit 9/11 will be shown at ALA in the Auditorium at the Convention Center, Sunday night, June 27, at 10 pm.

There will be a $10 donation that will go to ALA's efforts in the areas of the First Amendment, Intellectual Freedom, and the struggle against the USA
PATRIOT Act.

2004-06-20: Fahrenheit 9/11 will be shown at ALA

From Naperville Public Library's perspective, the supervisor was just doing her job.
But Naperville police say the supervisor and the library made their pursuit of a suspect more difficult than necessary.

When three teens accused a patron of fondling himself in the downtown Nichols Library computer lab last month, the staff member in charge confronted the man - though she had not witnessed the alleged behavior herself.

The patron told the supervisor he was about to leave, and did.

Problem solved. Or so the supervisor thought.

The teens disagreed. At their insistence, the supervisor called police, who immediately began an investigation.

2004-06-17: Public indecency case pits library vs. police, by Beth Sneller and Jake Griffin | Daily Herald Staff Writers

Follow-up: Police initially asked the supervisor to use library records to identify the patron for their investigation.

After consulting other library officials, she refused, citing state library law,...

Instead, police had to obtain a court order and subpoena the next day to identify their suspect.

As for the roles public libraries and voluntary sector agencies in the provision of such services, these are centered on these general axes:
1 roles with social responsibility, and social change

2 roles to seek and foster the welfare of the working classes, the disadvantaged, the poor, the needed and the social excluded

3 roles to alleviate and ameliorate all kinds of inequalities in the society

4. roles with a political and social commitment to foster the values of democracy and respect for human rights such the right to know, the right to be informed, the right to information access and so on; a committment towards the liberation of information;

5 roles to seek for the free of charge production, organization, and dissemination of the information

6 roles to promote community based research, like using the community profiling methodologies to gather accurate data and updating, and monitoring the users needs in their real environment.

2004-06-04: “Information needed to cope with crisis in the lives of individuals and communities.”, by Zapopan Muela - an essay | The University of Sheffield

And now, the public library has become the social welfare dept--fixing society with it's mandate of controlling what is best for us!!

OCALA (FL)- The Marion County Public Library Advisory Board ponders new policy.

Unlike the current method, the proposed policy says that... the patron "must attest" to having read, listened to or viewed the material "in its entirety."

That became an issue with "Eat Me," the first book pulled from the library because of its content. Loretta Harrison, the woman who objected to the Australian novel, acknowledged in her complaint that she had read only a few pages before putting the book down.

Editor: Adds new meaning to the word "STUPID"!!

2004-06-05: New policy for library is reviewed - Board to spend half-year revamping its policies, by Bill Thompson, staff writer | Starbanner.com

Saying he has little faith in the Salt Lake City Library Board, Arthur Brady, libraries liaison for Communities for Decency, says his group is taking its case to the council. Tuesday, Brady's group will ask the council to force the Salt Lake City Library System to install Internet pornography filters on its public computers.

Absurdity: "The Salt Lake City Library Board has had a policy in place for a number of years and is just absolutely dismissive of any filtering device," Brady said.

Council Response: "The difficulty we've had is this bill isn't protecting children, it is taking away free access to information," Sandack said.

Differing Opinion: Still, Councilman Dave Buhler wondered why the city library system has a different stance on filters than most other libraries statewide. "I find it curious that our library has resisted filters," he said.

Bottom Line: While the council can't make library policy decisions — those are up to the board — it can make budget decisions. Brady said filters are a budget decision since non-filtered libraries are ineligible for federal funds under the Children's Internet Protection Act.
2004-05-17: Coalition calls for filters at libraries, by Brady Snyder | Deseret Morning News

A conservative Utah coalition wants the Salt Lake City Council to get tough on Internet pornography at city public libraries.

"Stealth" still works for many librarians...

"The only reason you can get away with this perversion of our libraries is because our community simply does not know about these books," Paul Claybrook wrote in response to Moak's letter. "The vast majority of our community would object to these books, but (people) like yourself have allowed these books to quietly and slowly make their way onto the shelves."
2004-05-09: Parents fight library's gay-themed books, by Nathan Isaacs Herald | Tri-CityHerald.com

A registered sex offender pleaded guilty to using public library computers to download and e-mail child pornography.

Richard Edward Brillhart, 24, faces between 15 and 40 years in prison when he is sentenced July 19. He entered his guilty plea Wednesday, one day before he was to go on trial in federal court.

Brillhart was arrested in October after using a computer at a Charlotte County public library in Port Charlotte.

He told U.S. District Judge John E. Steele that he used library computers because he didn't have a computer of his own.

2004-04-22: Miami (FL) Man Pleads Guilty to Using Library Computers to Send Child Porn

Do our public libraries care?

Another example of "why" public libraries should use filters.

So now, the Florida state legislature is trying to do something about it... (see article immediately below...)

And guess who intervenes... the librarians!!! (Surprise, surprise)

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Librarians from across Florida gathered at the State Capitol today to protest Internet filters on public library computers.

City Library Director Susan Dillinger is preparing to fight the proposal in 2005... Dillinger heads the Legislative Committee of the Florida Library Association, which opposes mandatory Internet filtering.
2004-04-13: Librarians Protest Mandated Internet Filters For Library Computers | NewsForJax.com:

2004-05-03: Librarian Fights Web Filters, by MARK HOLAN | tampatrib.com - NEW PORT RICHEY (FL) - A bill requiring Internet filtering software on public library computers died last week in the Florida Legislature for the third year

After 7 years of filtered control over library internet content, the Jacksonville (FL) library board considers a plan that would allow adults to view porn.

"No! Absolutely not," Linda Karey (patron) said about accessing adult content at the library. "Absolutely not!"

2004-04-09: Public Library To Allow Online Access To Adult Content

OCALA - Marion County [FL] commissioners may slash the public library system's book-buying budget as a way to prevent objectionable books from making their way onto the shelves.

The board suggested the move on Tuesday after a small batch of protesters showed up at their meeting to keep alive the controversy over the presence of a racy Australian sex novel in the library.

2004-04-07: County considers trimming book buys - 'Raunchy' book concerns may affect library budget - by Bill Thompson | StarBanner.com

LOWELL (MA) A Lowell Superior Court judge ordered Brian C. Mandigo, a level-3 sex offender, to stay away from Lowell's Pollard Library, where he was spotted using a computer around two boys and viewing adult pornography.
Mandigo, 45, who lists the homeless shelter on Middlesex Street as his address, was found in the library March 3 using the computer while sitting between two boys, ages 7 and 10 or 11, according to Probation Officer Claire Fogg.

Mandigo, formerly of Haverhill, was convicted in 1987 of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 in Epping, N.H., according to the Lowell Police Department's Web site.

2004-04-07: Sex offender told to stay away from library | LowellSun.com

Oh yeah... and we don't need filters there?!!

One thing about the ALA... they're consistent !!

The American Library Association still has several recommended weblinks for teens to Columbia University's, "Go Ask Alice!" -- a highly explicit site with content we will not even discuss here.

Retrieved 2004-04-03: (So-called) Healthy Relationships for Teens

1999-05-25: Linking Teens to Perversion - ALA retains link to Go Ask Alice

Shorewood (WI) - A Shorewood father of five said he was stunned when he received a notice that his 12-year-old son owed a $25 fine for overdue library materials.

" When my wife called to ask what materials he had taken out, they wouldn't tell her," the father said. "They said it would be a violation of my son's privacy."
When he went to the library in person and demanded to know what materials were overdue, he was even more surprised to learn that his 12-year-old had checked out three R-rated videos.

"Striptease," "Woman on Top" and "Leaving Las Vegas" contain material that might not be suitable for those younger than 17, the Motion Picture Association of America says.

"He couldn't go to Blockbuster and rent those movies," the man said. "He couldn't get into the theater to see them. But he could stop at the library on the way home from school and check them out.
2004-03-26: Many libraries don't restrict what children check out - by Marie Rohde | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

HANOVER (MA) - Pornography at the public library? Not if Rosemary Baker has her way.
Baker said that while her 12-year-old daughter was at the John Curtis Free Library last week, she saw another child looking at a web site that showed people having sex.

‘‘My daughter was very upset by the images she saw and it's very difficult to erase those images,'' Baker said. ‘‘It's evil that she's 12, she goes to a library and she's exposed to this.''

But when Baker complained, she was told that the library does not use Internet filtering software on its computers because of free-speech concerns.

Library trustee Roberta Stannard said the library doesn't want to come between patrons and information they may be seeking.

‘‘It's very difficult to determine what is an appropriate web site because when you start to put filtering into effect you run the risk of filtering out some of the good information from the bad,'' Stannard said.

2004-03-18: Mom on mission after kid exposed to porn at library - by Karen Goulart | The Patriot Ledger

Oh my, we wouldn't want to run that risk would we?!!!

Common excuse for not filtering: "Filters don't work!"

In a meeting for the public on March 14, 2004, entitled "Providing Internet Access Responsibly", John Opgaard, Automation Manager for the Topeka Shawnee County (KS) Public Library, presented what is, and basically has been, the public library's position on anything "censorship". The Topeka Public Library opposed the [then] proposed Kansas House Bill 2420, and John had spoken on the opposing side to the legislature.
2004-03-14: John Opgaard, Topeka Shawnee County Public Library (KS)

Ward Loyd - "Nobody is interested in permitting children to have access to pornography; that goes without saying," he said, of the reasoning behind his decision. "Yet I think it would be very difficult for someone in Topeka to tell someone at home how they should manage."

Finney County (KS) Public Library Director Emily Sitz painted a dark picture of what a filtered future might hold. In exchange for the filter funding, "materials and personnel are where the library would take a hit," she predicted.

2004-03-12: Rep. Ward Loyd, R-Garden City, was one of 26 out the 80 House Republicans to vote against public library internet filtering.

More "gloom & doom"!! And we sure wouldn't want to impinge on any of these children's rights.

"Universally, this is opposed by librarians," said Rep. Rick Rehorn, D-Kansas City. 2004-03-12: by Joe Noga (Pittsburg KS) The Morning Sun | AP - Well Rick, the "universe" is pretty big!! Perhaps you should meet some of these librarians.

Topeka Shawnee County Public Library (KS)

Here we have a small town trying to exert local control over their tax base and library services but the "big city/county" library board (and director David Leamon) doing everything they can to prevent it... while still saying, "It's YOUR Library!"
2004-03-02: Power grab exposed!!

Philadelphia Free Library’s Independence branch

The next time the taxpayer-supported members of the American Library Association rail against anti-porn filters on taxpayer-supplied Internet service, consider the little Philadelphia girl who went to her library to learn and instead got a vicious lesson from a pedophile rapist who loves library porn.
2004-02-11: Fan of Library Porn Admits Raping Little Girl

Fairfield (MT) librarian Marian Leifer - "I can see why filtering is important and why parents want it, but we had no indication that anybody cares," she said.

2004-02-04: Choteau Acantha

You mean, "We don't care if anybody cares."

"It was shocking to me that this was going on in our library, and to be right honest with you, I'm totally embarrassed that it's happening," said Urbandale Mayor Brad Zaun. "It's wrong for the city of Urbandale to allow it to happen."

2003-10-25: Kids get R-rated movies at library -- Urbandale's mayor says he's shocked by the policy, and he wants it changed. ...but alas

2003-11-25: Library Keeps Controversial Video Policy -- Children Can Check Out R-Rated Movies In Urbandale

Urbandale Library Board of Trustees -- shame, shame, shame!!

The opposition at least "thinks" they're losing!!!

(Item 10.) It may seem that every library in the world is filtering, but that's not the case at all. Many libraries have chosen not to filter (and remember, CIPA doesn't give libraries much latitude for filtering). Some have chosen not to filter for philosophical reasons, and some for financial, and others for a combination of the two. We don't hear about these libraries because staying low-profile is a strategy, but nonetheless, if you aren't filtering all or most of the computers in your library, you are not alone.

2003-11-03: Top Ten Tips about Internet Filters, by Karen G. Schneider, (California Library Association) IFC Chair

Shouldn't we take the "Public" out of your library name... since the "Public" pays your salary and keeps the lights on?!!

Some librarians say a restrictive policy violates the core values of libraries to give all patrons full access to informative materials.

" There's a perception somehow you can protect children by preventing access to information," said Gina Millsap, former president of the Iowa Library Association.

She said she opposes restrictions to movies based on age.

HA... and now Topeka Kansas has hired her!!! (2005). This adds credibility to our homepage... KANSAS, LAND OF FLAWS!!
2003-10-27: LISNEWS

Hays (KS) library director Melanie Miller IS BACK!!! She has recommended that her board give up the roughly $5,000 it gets in federal funds, rather than infringe on the free-speech rights of the library's patrons.

"It's our responsibility to the public that's causing us to continue to provide unfiltered access," Miller said. "I think it's deceitful to reassure the public that filters will keep pornography out."

2003-August: "In these difficult economic times, trustees must stand up for their autonomy. Your town’s children and grandchildren are depending on you to continue the tradition of independent public libraries."

The Lancaster Eagle-Gazette proclaims, “Our library is standing up for democracy,” and continues that the Fairfield County District Library will lose $9,000 a year because of it. That’s out of a $3 million budget. “Its administration and its board feel it’s a small price to pay to stand up for what is right for its patrons. The library has never put filters on its Internet
computers, and still has no plans to do so. ‘In a democracy, we do trust our public will be able to decide for themselves which information they should or should not have,’ said Barbara Pickell, director of Fairfield County District Library.” 2003-summer: Coping with CIPA: A Censorware Special - That same attitude, "standing up for democracy" is exactly what is going to reduce your budget, services, and other options, once the public sees what you're [not] doing to protect our children!!

Comments by: Hays (KS) Public Library Director Melanie Miller, chairperson of the Kansas Library Association's Intellectual Freedom Roundtable.

Libraries have been sued for placing filters on their machines, she said. And there have been cases where filters were in place and the library was sued over obscenity that slipped through.

"Either way it's a very oppressive environment," Miller said.

"Despots" definition: tyrannical "public" officials in power trying to keep their own little turfs.

2003-07-15: Here's a new one... "Internet filters really don't block more than half of all Web-based obscenity."

At the Topeka-Shawnee County (KS) Library, users of filtered computers even were barred access earlier this year to discussion of a bill in the Kansas House that would require Internet filters on computers in public libraries, said John Opgaard, manager of the library's automation department. The bill narrowly passed through committee but never made it to a full House vote.
Opgaard said the problem with filters was that they reacted to text instead of images, and the images were mostly what adults were trying to prevent children from accessing. Filtering puts legitimate materials off-limits while giving access to obscene materials that found a way around the filters, he said.
2003-07-15: Here's where the silly rumor started that some Kansas legislators needed for talking points.

“I am disappointed, dismayed and disheartened by the Supreme Court ruling that upholds the federal CIPA [Children’s Internet Protection Act] and requires public libraries to filter internet terminals or eschew federal funding," said Diane Courtney, Director of the Larchmont Public Library and President of the New York Library Association. “Upholding CIPA places an undue burden on all libraries, especially smaller ones, and is, yet again, an example of imposing unfunded mandates on local jurisdictions - this time, the public library.”
2003-06-26: Public Libraries Dismayed at Supreme Court Decision on Internet Filters, by Judy Silberstein

The Princeton (NJ) Public Library is not expected to install internet filters on its computers at this time notwithstanding a recent decision by the United States Supreme Court that seeks to limit children's access to pornography.
2003-06-23: More tax dollars lost!!

State (IA) Librarian Mary Wegner said that of the 543 public libraries in Iowa, approximately 150 receive federal E-rate funds for Internet connections. She anticipates that the majority of these libraries will not install Internet filters and will lose their federal E-rate funding. 2003-06-23: OK Mary, time for an update!!

Director's Note, David Leamon
Executive Director, Topeka Shawnee County (KS) Public Library

When government undertakes to censor or to control the freedom of speech, the freedom to access information, freedom from intimidation, and the overriding of parental rights, the erosion of a free society begins.

Personal Freedoms & Internet Legislation, page 6 of the "Friends of the Director"... er, we meant... "Friends of the Library spring 2003 newsletter"

A recent controversy at the Ottawa Public Library erupted in 2003 over the filtering issue. Some Ottawa library staff members filed a grievance through Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) asserting that their board's no-filter internet use policy would result in staff being exposed to pornography in the workplace. A similar 'hostile environment' grievance was filed months earlier by some staff members of the Minneapolis Public Library. After heated debate in the spring of 2003, the Ottawa Library Board approved a motion to place filtering software on all terminals with the option given to adult patrons (16 years and older) to turn the filter off. 2003-05-01: See details and outcome of this complaint

And then there's HB 2420 (KS), an Internet filtering bill motivated by concerns about child pornography, which already is against the law. This bill is especially dangerous to the state's libraries. It mandates the use of costly filtering technologies by institutions already under budgetary assault. These technologies are far from foolproof. The bill contains language that's already been overturned by federal courts. And it ignores the most trenchant fact: Library staff members already work hard to make sure Internet access in their care isn't abused.
2003-03-12: Op-Ed on Freedom of Information Day - by Randy Brown, Senior Fellow in the Elliott School of Communication at Wichita State University

"Trenchant fact" - uh, yeah, like, "We have a policy--don't bother us!!"

"It seems like the only problem - if there is a problem - is in Topeka," said Rep. Todd Novascone, R-Wichita. 2003-03-12: Are you getting a little too much sand in your eyes Todd?

Opponents of a measure designed to prevent children who use public library computers from seeing Internet pornography testified Tuesday that the measure would be expensive and ineffective.

The bill would require any library that receives state funding to install filtering software on all computers used by minors. The measure would allow citizens to seek court orders blocking public access to a library's computers until filters are installed. Proponents testified earlier that the software would block Web sites that contain obscene material.

But a parade of librarians from across the state testified before the House Federal and State Affairs Committee on Tuesday that the bill would place an unfair burden on their budgets and staffs.

Duane Johnson, state librarian, said it would cost $150 per computer to purchase and maintain the filtering software. Such an undertaking would have a three-year price tag of more than $1.7 million statewide.

But a greater concern, he said, was that even the best software still allows about 20 percent of the objectionable material through.

"A filtering device is an unreliable remedy," Johnson said. "They have been shown to be ineffective."

"Something with 80 percent effectiveness is better than zero," countered Rep. Becky Hutchins, R-Holton, who requested that the bill be drafted.

2003-03-11: Porn filtering called ineffective - Computers: Librarians say requiring them to screen Internet porn is an unfair financial burden - by Chris Grenz | The Capital-Journal

Same ol' line, 2nd verse...

When government undertakes to censor or to control the freedom of speech, the freedom to access information, freedom from intimidation, and the overriding of parental rights, the erosion of a free society begins. 2003-spring: New definition of "filter"- Topeka Public Library director David Leamon

The story starts at the public library. The staff says 20-year-old Carlos Barba was a regular visitor in the library's computer room, which has free Internet access.
Police say Barba, using the online name Texas Latin Boy, logged onto a teen chat site and lured the 12-year-old into meeting him.

"The suspect ultimately sexually assaulted the 12-year-old child," said Sgt. Mike Baird of the Pasadena Police Department. "We didn't know exactly who the suspect was at the time."
When police found Carlos Barba, they say he was online at the library. 2002-04-30: Father goes undercover to help catch son's suspected assaulter

"I really hope that the court upholds the librarians' side of this because we are fighting for everybody's freedom," said Kathleen de la Pena McCook, a professor of library and information science at the University of South Florida in Tampa. 2002-04-16: by Jeanne Malmgren | Times Staff Writer, © St. Petersburg Times

Once again, "Librarians vs. Public"

Cindy Benjamin (one of many citizens who wanted action on this topic) said that she had to tell her daughter she couldn’t bring her to the meeting tonight because of the issues being raised tonight. Her daughter had told her that the last time they visited the library, she saw a man looking at naked ladies on the computer. She said that it’s amazing this kind of thing could happen.
2002-03-18: FORT VANCOUVER REGIONAL LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES - Minutes March 18, 2002 (pages 6-8)

Of course the Library board resisted any action.

The New Hampshire Library Association does not recommend the use of Internet filters in libraries, and emphatically opposes attempts by federal and state governments to set such policy for libraries.
We gratefully acknowledge the Virginia Library Association, the Rhode Island Library Association, and the North Carolina Public Library Directors Association for making their resolutions available.

In the company of fools.

2001-06-22: State library organizations following the lead of the ALA, opposing internet filtering.

State (ME) Librarian J. Gary Nicholas said he believes if the federal law goes into effect, librarians in many smaller libraries that depend on federal funds for their Internet connections would rather lose their abilities to surf the Web than comply with the law.
“It’s going to have a very negative effect on small- and medium-sized libraries because they simply will not participate,” he said.

2001-02-08: Sheesh... what a stupid assumption!!

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.
2000-08-17: American Library Association opens door to sex crimes

Filtering Facts Demands Chicago Library Produce Files

Kalamazoo, Michigan, probably comes the closest to representing a typical public library. Located in the Midwest, it serves a medium-sized population (116,000) and has a “ tap on the shoulder” policy where porn surfers are instructed to stop if seen. The percentage of pornographic web sites accessed (0.5 percent) may be typical for similar libraries.27 Other libraries, like Chicago, employ “privacy screens,” which no doubt encourage porn surfing, and likely record much higher rates, such as Chicago’s 5 percent. These urban libraries with lax Internet policies make up a large chunk of the nation’s thirty-nine thousand public library Internet terminals.

2000-03-23: the Chicago Public Library (Library Commissioner Mary Dempsey) even stated that its own pornography rate of 5 percent “allows us to paint the far-right agenda as much ado about not very much.”

Your "much ado about not very much" attitude has turned into your "much pain in the achilles heel".

Kern County (CA) Library Removes Internet Filters - Responding to a warning from the ACLU that mandatory use of Internet filtering software could result in a lawsuit, on January 28, Kern County agreed to provide a choice of an unfiltered or a filtered computer to both adult and minor library patrons. Minors do not need parental consent to use an unfiltered computer.
1998-sprint: Let's see, ACLU stands for... Always Cashing in on Legal mis-Understandings!!

Editor: Absurdity is alive and well !!! We wonder, "Did he study the U.S. Constitution in school... at the library... or at the ALA website?!! 1997-11-09: Purchase of Blocking Software by Public Libraries is Unconstitutional - A Briefing Paper by Jonathan D. Wallace, Esq.

While ALA has always maintained that it is not in loco parentis, its refusal to take any responsibility for information on the Internet leaves public librarians stranded with no real tangible guidelines to help them provide electronic services. By leaving decisions on appropriateness up to the user, ALA leads the way towards abdication of one of the core professional responsibilities of the librarian, namely the selection and mediation process that distinguishes a public library from an information warehouse. In the context of this Interpretation, the Resolution on Filtering comes as no surprise. It, likewise, offers only an absolute statement with no guidelines and no room to maneuver. In spite of the fact that ALA has recognized the dilemma for public libraries, it only repeatedly asserts its 'all or nothing' agenda. 1997: Filtering the Internet in America's Public Libraries: Sliding Down the Slippery Slope

The use in libraries of software filters to block constitutionally protected speech is inconsistent with the United States Constitution and federal law and may lead to legal exposure for the library and its governing authorities. The American Library Association affirms that the use of filtering software by libraries to block access to constitutionally protected speech violates the Library Bill of Rights.
1997-07-01: Uh, well,... which Bill of Rights shall we follow?!!

e-mail: website@InternetFilters.org

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submit your story here: website@InternetFilters.org
Lisa Racine was there with her kids. She's always there with her kids. "We're big readers," she explained. The kids -- four of them, ages 5 to 12 -- aren't in school right now, and you can only watch the Veggie Tales movies so many times. So, the library. It was about 4:30 that Monday afternoon, Racine said. They'd just left the kiddie area and were headed over to fiction, where Racine was going to get herself something to read. Then, she glanced. Nudity. Sex. Moving pictures, zooming in on a woman's parts and such. A man in a red T-shirt and a blue ball cap. Watching. Racine turned away. She ushered the kids out of harm's way. She approached two librarians. Umm, she said, can you stop that man? No, she said they told her, we cannot. There was something said about the First Amendment.	2008-07-14: SEX IN LIBRARY! SAY IT AIN'T SO (Mom learns computer users see what they want), by Richard Lake \| REVIEW-JOURNAL
(Vancouver WA) To Elena Smith, libraries are bastions of free thought. And to her, unfiltered access to the Internet is a crucial part of that. Smith, who is a librarian with the Hood River County Library and has worked in libraries for 24 years, says the potential for problems with Internet access has been overblown. "Public libraries are the last public democratic institution in the United States," she said. "We do need to guard these freedoms." She added that librarians know how to handle people who are threatening or disruptive. "We're not going to put up with weirdos offending our other patrons, and I just don't think it's a real issue," she said. "I think we are mature enough, and I think librarians are responsible enough to run the organization safely." (Oh yeah... read examples below!!)	2006-01-09: Library board to discuss Internet policy, by MARGARET ELLIS \| Columbian staff writer
So back in July, Yvonne LeFever was with her children at the Norwood (PA) Public Library for a program called "Science in the Summer" and after it was over, one of the kids decided to log on to the computer in the children’s section. LeFever just happened to be there when the 14-year-old attempting to access a music video suddenly found herself face to face with a lesbian porn video that some clever boy, girl or adult had managed to download and leave for some unsuspecting child to view. "It was graphic and left nothing to the imagination," LeFever said. She did her best to block the screen from the view of the 20 or so children nearby. She hit the close button on one window, but another screen with the same video popped up behind it.... It wasn’t until the 14-year-old thought to hit the keyboard’s escape button that the video finally disappeared. A bit flustered but otherwise composed, LeFever went to notify the librarian about what happened. The reaction was not what she’d hoped for. Instead of swinging into action and checking to see who might last have used the computer and removing it from use, the head librarian, she said, told her that she didn’t belong back in the children’s section. When she strongly suggested the computer be turned off and an "out of order" sign placed on it, LeFever said the librarian "just ignored me. She didn’t do a darn thing."	2005-10-14: Library system required to go by the book, editorial by Gil Spencer, Times Columnist
EVANSDALE (IA)--- People don't usually describe a trip to the public library as "obscene" or "violating." But that's the way Kelli Phillips described her recent visit to Evansdale's house of knowledge. "I took my 4-year-old son to the library and I was sitting at a table behind the computers. I looked up and saw two men were looking at ... pornographic materials, so I reported it to the librarian," Phillips said.	2005-07-17: Por-no-no: A twisted trip through public libraries' battle with Internet pornography, by CYRUS MOUSSAVI, Courier Staff Writer
In early February, a pair of 12-year-old girls sat down at a computer terminal in Bethel Park (PA) Library to review some schoolwork. At the same time, a man sitting next to them viewed nude women wrestling on a Yahoo chat room. The man, Scott Rickenbach, 38, was charged with disorderly conduct and will appear before District Judge Robert C. Wyda for a hearing tomorrow morning. Meanwhile, staff members at the library have upgraded their computer filters to block all chat rooms and have set aside certain computers for children 17 and younger. Now here's a novel statement... "In a library, there's a presumption of safety for minors," he said. (At the County Council meeting on March 15, Allegheny County Councilman Vince Gastgeb introduced a resolution that would deny county funding to the eiNetwork if the filters are not maintained.)	2005-04-21: Blocking all explicit material impossible, library official says, by Nate Guidry, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 2005-03-30: Internet pornography filters urged at all libraries, by Jerome L. Sherman \| Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Whenever staff at the county library passed near Jeffrey Olson as he scrolled through Internet sites, he would quickly change his screen, but when a nearby computer user saw pictures of naked children, he called the sheriff’s office. Olson, 30, who was using one of the Washoe County Library’s adult, nonfiltered computers in northwest Reno to download child pornography, was arrested and charged with 13 counts of possession.	2005-04-13: Child porn case spotlights libraries’ Internet policies, Martha Bellisle \| RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
By a vote of 8–6, the judiciary and civil law committee of the Illinois House of Representatives killed a mandatory internet filtering bill March 2. It was the ninth time filtering legislation was defeated in the state, according to the Illinois Library Association, which had fought the bill. (yep, ALA again!)	2005-03-04: Illinois Filtering Bill Defeated Again, ALA
The American Library Association continues it's leftist rampage... Fahrenheit 9/11 will be shown at ALA in the Auditorium at the Convention Center, Sunday night, June 27, at 10 pm. There will be a $10 donation that will go to ALA's efforts in the areas of the First Amendment, Intellectual Freedom, and the struggle against the USA PATRIOT Act.	2004-06-20: Fahrenheit 9/11 will be shown at ALA
From Naperville Public Library's perspective, the supervisor was just doing her job. But Naperville police say the supervisor and the library made their pursuit of a suspect more difficult than necessary. When three teens accused a patron of fondling himself in the downtown Nichols Library computer lab last month, the staff member in charge confronted the man - though she had not witnessed the alleged behavior herself. The patron told the supervisor he was about to leave, and did. Problem solved. Or so the supervisor thought. The teens disagreed. At their insistence, the supervisor called police, who immediately began an investigation.	2004-06-17: Public indecency case pits library vs. police, by Beth Sneller and Jake Griffin \| Daily Herald Staff Writers Follow-up: Police initially asked the supervisor to use library records to identify the patron for their investigation. After consulting other library officials, she refused, citing state library law,... Instead, police had to obtain a court order and subpoena the next day to identify their suspect.
As for the roles public libraries and voluntary sector agencies in the provision of such services, these are centered on these general axes: 1 roles with social responsibility, and social change 2 roles to seek and foster the welfare of the working classes, the disadvantaged, the poor, the needed and the social excluded 3 roles to alleviate and ameliorate all kinds of inequalities in the society 4. roles with a political and social commitment to foster the values of democracy and respect for human rights such the right to know, the right to be informed, the right to information access and so on; a committment towards the liberation of information; 5 roles to seek for the free of charge production, organization, and dissemination of the information 6 roles to promote community based research, like using the community profiling methodologies to gather accurate data and updating, and monitoring the users needs in their real environment.	2004-06-04: “Information needed to cope with crisis in the lives of individuals and communities.”, by Zapopan Muela - an essay \| The University of Sheffield And now, the public library has become the social welfare dept--fixing society with it's mandate of controlling what is best for us!!
OCALA (FL)- The Marion County Public Library Advisory Board ponders new policy. Unlike the current method, the proposed policy says that... the patron "must attest" to having read, listened to or viewed the material "in its entirety." That became an issue with "Eat Me," the first book pulled from the library because of its content. Loretta Harrison, the woman who objected to the Australian novel, acknowledged in her complaint that she had read only a few pages before putting the book down. Editor: Adds new meaning to the word "STUPID"!!	2004-06-05: New policy for library is reviewed - Board to spend half-year revamping its policies, by Bill Thompson, staff writer \| Starbanner.com
Saying he has little faith in the Salt Lake City Library Board, Arthur Brady, libraries liaison for Communities for Decency, says his group is taking its case to the council. Tuesday, Brady's group will ask the council to force the Salt Lake City Library System to install Internet pornography filters on its public computers. Absurdity: "The Salt Lake City Library Board has had a policy in place for a number of years and is just absolutely dismissive of any filtering device," Brady said. Council Response: "The difficulty we've had is this bill isn't protecting children, it is taking away free access to information," Sandack said. Differing Opinion: Still, Councilman Dave Buhler wondered why the city library system has a different stance on filters than most other libraries statewide. "I find it curious that our library has resisted filters," he said. Bottom Line: While the council can't make library policy decisions — those are up to the board — it can make budget decisions. Brady said filters are a budget decision since non-filtered libraries are ineligible for federal funds under the Children's Internet Protection Act.	2004-05-17: Coalition calls for filters at libraries, by Brady Snyder \| Deseret Morning News A conservative Utah coalition wants the Salt Lake City Council to get tough on Internet pornography at city public libraries.
"Stealth" still works for many librarians... "The only reason you can get away with this perversion of our libraries is because our community simply does not know about these books," Paul Claybrook wrote in response to Moak's letter. "The vast majority of our community would object to these books, but (people) like yourself have allowed these books to quietly and slowly make their way onto the shelves."	2004-05-09: Parents fight library's gay-themed books, by Nathan Isaacs Herald \| Tri-CityHerald.com
A registered sex offender pleaded guilty to using public library computers to download and e-mail child pornography. Richard Edward Brillhart, 24, faces between 15 and 40 years in prison when he is sentenced July 19. He entered his guilty plea Wednesday, one day before he was to go on trial in federal court. Brillhart was arrested in October after using a computer at a Charlotte County public library in Port Charlotte. He told U.S. District Judge John E. Steele that he used library computers because he didn't have a computer of his own.	2004-04-22: Miami (FL) Man Pleads Guilty to Using Library Computers to Send Child Porn Do our public libraries care? Another example of "why" public libraries should use filters.
So now, the Florida state legislature is trying to do something about it... (see article immediately below...) And guess who intervenes... the librarians!!! (Surprise, surprise) TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Librarians from across Florida gathered at the State Capitol today to protest Internet filters on public library computers. City Library Director Susan Dillinger is preparing to fight the proposal in 2005... Dillinger heads the Legislative Committee of the Florida Library Association, which opposes mandatory Internet filtering.	2004-04-13: Librarians Protest Mandated Internet Filters For Library Computers \| NewsForJax.com: 2004-05-03: Librarian Fights Web Filters, by MARK HOLAN \| tampatrib.com - NEW PORT RICHEY (FL) - A bill requiring Internet filtering software on public library computers died last week in the Florida Legislature for the third year
After 7 years of filtered control over library internet content, the Jacksonville (FL) library board considers a plan that would allow adults to view porn. "No! Absolutely not," Linda Karey (patron) said about accessing adult content at the library. "Absolutely not!"	2004-04-09: Public Library To Allow Online Access To Adult Content
OCALA - Marion County [FL] commissioners may slash the public library system's book-buying budget as a way to prevent objectionable books from making their way onto the shelves. The board suggested the move on Tuesday after a small batch of protesters showed up at their meeting to keep alive the controversy over the presence of a racy Australian sex novel in the library.	2004-04-07: County considers trimming book buys - 'Raunchy' book concerns may affect library budget - by Bill Thompson \| StarBanner.com
LOWELL (MA) A Lowell Superior Court judge ordered Brian C. Mandigo, a level-3 sex offender, to stay away from Lowell's Pollard Library, where he was spotted using a computer around two boys and viewing adult pornography. Mandigo, 45, who lists the homeless shelter on Middlesex Street as his address, was found in the library March 3 using the computer while sitting between two boys, ages 7 and 10 or 11, according to Probation Officer Claire Fogg. Mandigo, formerly of Haverhill, was convicted in 1987 of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 in Epping, N.H., according to the Lowell Police Department's Web site.	2004-04-07: Sex offender told to stay away from library \| LowellSun.com Oh yeah... and we don't need filters there?!!
One thing about the ALA... they're consistent !! The American Library Association still has several recommended weblinks for teens to Columbia University's, "Go Ask Alice!" -- a highly explicit site with content we will not even discuss here.	Retrieved 2004-04-03: (So-called) Healthy Relationships for Teens 1999-05-25: Linking Teens to Perversion - ALA retains link to Go Ask Alice
Shorewood (WI) - A Shorewood father of five said he was stunned when he received a notice that his 12-year-old son owed a $25 fine for overdue library materials. " When my wife called to ask what materials he had taken out, they wouldn't tell her," the father said. "They said it would be a violation of my son's privacy." When he went to the library in person and demanded to know what materials were overdue, he was even more surprised to learn that his 12-year-old had checked out three R-rated videos. "Striptease," "Woman on Top" and "Leaving Las Vegas" contain material that might not be suitable for those younger than 17, the Motion Picture Association of America says. "He couldn't go to Blockbuster and rent those movies," the man said. "He couldn't get into the theater to see them. But he could stop at the library on the way home from school and check them out.	2004-03-26: Many libraries don't restrict what children check out - by Marie Rohde \| Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
HANOVER (MA) - Pornography at the public library? Not if Rosemary Baker has her way. Baker said that while her 12-year-old daughter was at the John Curtis Free Library last week, she saw another child looking at a web site that showed people having sex. ‘‘My daughter was very upset by the images she saw and it's very difficult to erase those images,'' Baker said. ‘‘It's evil that she's 12, she goes to a library and she's exposed to this.'' But when Baker complained, she was told that the library does not use Internet filtering software on its computers because of free-speech concerns. Library trustee Roberta Stannard said the library doesn't want to come between patrons and information they may be seeking. ‘‘It's very difficult to determine what is an appropriate web site because when you start to put filtering into effect you run the risk of filtering out some of the good information from the bad,'' Stannard said.	2004-03-18: Mom on mission after kid exposed to porn at library - by Karen Goulart \| The Patriot Ledger Oh my, we wouldn't want to run that risk would we?!!!
Common excuse for not filtering: "Filters don't work!" In a meeting for the public on March 14, 2004, entitled "Providing Internet Access Responsibly", John Opgaard, Automation Manager for the Topeka Shawnee County (KS) Public Library, presented what is, and basically has been, the public library's position on anything "censorship". The Topeka Public Library opposed the [then] proposed Kansas House Bill 2420, and John had spoken on the opposing side to the legislature.	2004-03-14: John Opgaard, Topeka Shawnee County Public Library (KS)
Ward Loyd - "Nobody is interested in permitting children to have access to pornography; that goes without saying," he said, of the reasoning behind his decision. "Yet I think it would be very difficult for someone in Topeka to tell someone at home how they should manage." Finney County (KS) Public Library Director Emily Sitz painted a dark picture of what a filtered future might hold. In exchange for the filter funding, "materials and personnel are where the library would take a hit," she predicted.	2004-03-12: Rep. Ward Loyd, R-Garden City, was one of 26 out the 80 House Republicans to vote against public library internet filtering. More "gloom & doom"!! And we sure wouldn't want to impinge on any of these children's rights.
"Universally, this is opposed by librarians," said Rep. Rick Rehorn, D-Kansas City.	2004-03-12: by Joe Noga (Pittsburg KS) The Morning Sun \| AP - Well Rick, the "universe" is pretty big!! Perhaps you should meet some of these librarians.
Topeka Shawnee County Public Library (KS) Here we have a small town trying to exert local control over their tax base and library services but the "big city/county" library board (and director David Leamon) doing everything they can to prevent it... while still saying, "It's YOUR Library!"	2004-03-02: Power grab exposed!!
Philadelphia Free Library’s Independence branch The next time the taxpayer-supported members of the American Library Association rail against anti-porn filters on taxpayer-supplied Internet service, consider the little Philadelphia girl who went to her library to learn and instead got a vicious lesson from a pedophile rapist who loves library porn.	2004-02-11: Fan of Library Porn Admits Raping Little Girl
Fairfield (MT) librarian Marian Leifer - "I can see why filtering is important and why parents want it, but we had no indication that anybody cares," she said.	2004-02-04: Choteau Acantha You mean, "We don't care if anybody cares."
"It was shocking to me that this was going on in our library, and to be right honest with you, I'm totally embarrassed that it's happening," said Urbandale Mayor Brad Zaun. "It's wrong for the city of Urbandale to allow it to happen." 2003-10-25: Kids get R-rated movies at library -- Urbandale's mayor says he's shocked by the policy, and he wants it changed. ...but alas	2003-11-25: Library Keeps Controversial Video Policy -- Children Can Check Out R-Rated Movies In Urbandale Urbandale Library Board of Trustees -- shame, shame, shame!!
The opposition at least "thinks" they're losing!!! (Item 10.) It may seem that every library in the world is filtering, but that's not the case at all. Many libraries have chosen not to filter (and remember, CIPA doesn't give libraries much latitude for filtering). Some have chosen not to filter for philosophical reasons, and some for financial, and others for a combination of the two. We don't hear about these libraries because staying low-profile is a strategy, but nonetheless, if you aren't filtering all or most of the computers in your library, you are not alone.	2003-11-03: Top Ten Tips about Internet Filters, by Karen G. Schneider, (California Library Association) IFC Chair Shouldn't we take the "Public" out of your library name... since the "Public" pays your salary and keeps the lights on?!!
Some librarians say a restrictive policy violates the core values of libraries to give all patrons full access to informative materials. " There's a perception somehow you can protect children by preventing access to information," said Gina Millsap, former president of the Iowa Library Association. She said she opposes restrictions to movies based on age. HA... and now Topeka Kansas has hired her!!! (2005). This adds credibility to our homepage... KANSAS, LAND OF FLAWS!!	2003-10-27: LISNEWS
Hays (KS) library director Melanie Miller IS BACK!!! She has recommended that her board give up the roughly $5,000 it gets in federal funds, rather than infringe on the free-speech rights of the library's patrons. "It's our responsibility to the public that's causing us to continue to provide unfiltered access," Miller said. "I think it's deceitful to reassure the public that filters will keep pornography out."	2003-August: "In these difficult economic times, trustees must stand up for their autonomy. Your town’s children and grandchildren are depending on you to continue the tradition of independent public libraries."
The Lancaster Eagle-Gazette proclaims, “Our library is standing up for democracy,” and continues that the Fairfield County District Library will lose $9,000 a year because of it. That’s out of a $3 million budget. “Its administration and its board feel it’s a small price to pay to stand up for what is right for its patrons. The library has never put filters on its Internet computers, and still has no plans to do so. ‘In a democracy, we do trust our public will be able to decide for themselves which information they should or should not have,’ said Barbara Pickell, director of Fairfield County District Library.”	2003-summer: Coping with CIPA: A Censorware Special - That same attitude, "standing up for democracy" is exactly what is going to reduce your budget, services, and other options, once the public sees what you're [not] doing to protect our children!!
Comments by: Hays (KS) Public Library Director Melanie Miller, chairperson of the Kansas Library Association's Intellectual Freedom Roundtable. Libraries have been sued for placing filters on their machines, she said. And there have been cases where filters were in place and the library was sued over obscenity that slipped through. "Either way it's a very oppressive environment," Miller said.	"Despots" definition: tyrannical "public" officials in power trying to keep their own little turfs. 2003-07-15: Here's a new one... "Internet filters really don't block more than half of all Web-based obscenity."
At the Topeka-Shawnee County (KS) Library, users of filtered computers even were barred access earlier this year to discussion of a bill in the Kansas House that would require Internet filters on computers in public libraries, said John Opgaard, manager of the library's automation department. The bill narrowly passed through committee but never made it to a full House vote. Opgaard said the problem with filters was that they reacted to text instead of images, and the images were mostly what adults were trying to prevent children from accessing. Filtering puts legitimate materials off-limits while giving access to obscene materials that found a way around the filters, he said.	2003-07-15: Here's where the silly rumor started that some Kansas legislators needed for talking points.
“I am disappointed, dismayed and disheartened by the Supreme Court ruling that upholds the federal CIPA [Children’s Internet Protection Act] and requires public libraries to filter internet terminals or eschew federal funding," said Diane Courtney, Director of the Larchmont Public Library and President of the New York Library Association. “Upholding CIPA places an undue burden on all libraries, especially smaller ones, and is, yet again, an example of imposing unfunded mandates on local jurisdictions - this time, the public library.”	2003-06-26: Public Libraries Dismayed at Supreme Court Decision on Internet Filters, by Judy Silberstein
The Princeton (NJ) Public Library is not expected to install internet filters on its computers at this time notwithstanding a recent decision by the United States Supreme Court that seeks to limit children's access to pornography.	2003-06-23: More tax dollars lost!!
State (IA) Librarian Mary Wegner said that of the 543 public libraries in Iowa, approximately 150 receive federal E-rate funds for Internet connections. She anticipates that the majority of these libraries will not install Internet filters and will lose their federal E-rate funding.	2003-06-23: OK Mary, time for an update!!
Director's Note, David Leamon Executive Director, Topeka Shawnee County (KS) Public Library When government undertakes to censor or to control the freedom of speech, the freedom to access information, freedom from intimidation, and the overriding of parental rights, the erosion of a free society begins.	Personal Freedoms & Internet Legislation, page 6 of the "Friends of the Director"... er, we meant... "Friends of the Library spring 2003 newsletter"
A recent controversy at the Ottawa Public Library erupted in 2003 over the filtering issue. Some Ottawa library staff members filed a grievance through Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) asserting that their board's no-filter internet use policy would result in staff being exposed to pornography in the workplace. A similar 'hostile environment' grievance was filed months earlier by some staff members of the Minneapolis Public Library. After heated debate in the spring of 2003, the Ottawa Library Board approved a motion to place filtering software on all terminals with the option given to adult patrons (16 years and older) to turn the filter off.	2003-05-01: See details and outcome of this complaint
And then there's HB 2420 (KS), an Internet filtering bill motivated by concerns about child pornography, which already is against the law. This bill is especially dangerous to the state's libraries. It mandates the use of costly filtering technologies by institutions already under budgetary assault. These technologies are far from foolproof. The bill contains language that's already been overturned by federal courts. And it ignores the most trenchant fact: Library staff members already work hard to make sure Internet access in their care isn't abused.	2003-03-12: Op-Ed on Freedom of Information Day - by Randy Brown, Senior Fellow in the Elliott School of Communication at Wichita State University "Trenchant fact" - uh, yeah, like, "We have a policy--don't bother us!!"
"It seems like the only problem - if there is a problem - is in Topeka," said Rep. Todd Novascone, R-Wichita.	2003-03-12: Are you getting a little too much sand in your eyes Todd?
Opponents of a measure designed to prevent children who use public library computers from seeing Internet pornography testified Tuesday that the measure would be expensive and ineffective. The bill would require any library that receives state funding to install filtering software on all computers used by minors. The measure would allow citizens to seek court orders blocking public access to a library's computers until filters are installed. Proponents testified earlier that the software would block Web sites that contain obscene material. But a parade of librarians from across the state testified before the House Federal and State Affairs Committee on Tuesday that the bill would place an unfair burden on their budgets and staffs. Duane Johnson, state librarian, said it would cost $150 per computer to purchase and maintain the filtering software. Such an undertaking would have a three-year price tag of more than $1.7 million statewide. But a greater concern, he said, was that even the best software still allows about 20 percent of the objectionable material through. "A filtering device is an unreliable remedy," Johnson said. "They have been shown to be ineffective." "Something with 80 percent effectiveness is better than zero," countered Rep. Becky Hutchins, R-Holton, who requested that the bill be drafted.	2003-03-11: Porn filtering called ineffective - Computers: Librarians say requiring them to screen Internet porn is an unfair financial burden - by Chris Grenz \| The Capital-Journal Same ol' line, 2nd verse...
When government undertakes to censor or to control the freedom of speech, the freedom to access information, freedom from intimidation, and the overriding of parental rights, the erosion of a free society begins.	2003-spring: New definition of "filter"- Topeka Public Library director David Leamon
The story starts at the public library. The staff says 20-year-old Carlos Barba was a regular visitor in the library's computer room, which has free Internet access. Police say Barba, using the online name Texas Latin Boy, logged onto a teen chat site and lured the 12-year-old into meeting him. "The suspect ultimately sexually assaulted the 12-year-old child," said Sgt. Mike Baird of the Pasadena Police Department. "We didn't know exactly who the suspect was at the time." When police found Carlos Barba, they say he was online at the library.	2002-04-30: Father goes undercover to help catch son's suspected assaulter
"I really hope that the court upholds the librarians' side of this because we are fighting for everybody's freedom," said Kathleen de la Pena McCook, a professor of library and information science at the University of South Florida in Tampa.	2002-04-16: by Jeanne Malmgren \| Times Staff Writer, © St. Petersburg Times Once again, "Librarians vs. Public"
Cindy Benjamin (one of many citizens who wanted action on this topic) said that she had to tell her daughter she couldn’t bring her to the meeting tonight because of the issues being raised tonight. Her daughter had told her that the last time they visited the library, she saw a man looking at naked ladies on the computer. She said that it’s amazing this kind of thing could happen.	2002-03-18: FORT VANCOUVER REGIONAL LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES - Minutes March 18, 2002 (pages 6-8) Of course the Library board resisted any action.
The New Hampshire Library Association does not recommend the use of Internet filters in libraries, and emphatically opposes attempts by federal and state governments to set such policy for libraries. We gratefully acknowledge the Virginia Library Association, the Rhode Island Library Association, and the North Carolina Public Library Directors Association for making their resolutions available.	In the company of fools. 2001-06-22: State library organizations following the lead of the ALA, opposing internet filtering.
State (ME) Librarian J. Gary Nicholas said he believes if the federal law goes into effect, librarians in many smaller libraries that depend on federal funds for their Internet connections would rather lose their abilities to surf the Web than comply with the law. “It’s going to have a very negative effect on small- and medium-sized libraries because they simply will not participate,” he said.	2001-02-08: Sheesh... what a stupid assumption!!
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.	2000-08-17: American Library Association opens door to sex crimes
Filtering Facts Demands Chicago Library Produce Files Kalamazoo, Michigan, probably comes the closest to representing a typical public library. Located in the Midwest, it serves a medium-sized population (116,000) and has a “ tap on the shoulder” policy where porn surfers are instructed to stop if seen. The percentage of pornographic web sites accessed (0.5 percent) may be typical for similar libraries.27 Other libraries, like Chicago, employ “privacy screens,” which no doubt encourage porn surfing, and likely record much higher rates, such as Chicago’s 5 percent. These urban libraries with lax Internet policies make up a large chunk of the nation’s thirty-nine thousand public library Internet terminals.	2000-03-23: the Chicago Public Library (Library Commissioner Mary Dempsey) even stated that its own pornography rate of 5 percent “allows us to paint the far-right agenda as much ado about not very much.” Your "much ado about not very much" attitude has turned into your "much pain in the achilles heel".
Kern County (CA) Library Removes Internet Filters - Responding to a warning from the ACLU that mandatory use of Internet filtering software could result in a lawsuit, on January 28, Kern County agreed to provide a choice of an unfiltered or a filtered computer to both adult and minor library patrons. Minors do not need parental consent to use an unfiltered computer.	1998-sprint: Let's see, ACLU stands for... Always Cashing in on Legal mis-Understandings!!
Editor: Absurdity is alive and well !!! We wonder, "Did he study the U.S. Constitution in school... at the library... or at the ALA website?!!	1997-11-09: Purchase of Blocking Software by Public Libraries is Unconstitutional - A Briefing Paper by Jonathan D. Wallace, Esq.
While ALA has always maintained that it is not in loco parentis, its refusal to take any responsibility for information on the Internet leaves public librarians stranded with no real tangible guidelines to help them provide electronic services. By leaving decisions on appropriateness up to the user, ALA leads the way towards abdication of one of the core professional responsibilities of the librarian, namely the selection and mediation process that distinguishes a public library from an information warehouse. In the context of this Interpretation, the Resolution on Filtering comes as no surprise. It, likewise, offers only an absolute statement with no guidelines and no room to maneuver. In spite of the fact that ALA has recognized the dilemma for public libraries, it only repeatedly asserts its 'all or nothing' agenda.	1997: Filtering the Internet in America's Public Libraries: Sliding Down the Slippery Slope
The use in libraries of software filters to block constitutionally protected speech is inconsistent with the United States Constitution and federal law and may lead to legal exposure for the library and its governing authorities. The American Library Association affirms that the use of filtering software by libraries to block access to constitutionally protected speech violates the Library Bill of Rights.	1997-07-01: Uh, well,... which Bill of Rights shall we follow?!!