Comments on: Evergreen State Library of Porn

By: StupidLikeAFox

StupidLikeAFox — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 21:05:32 +0000

If it’s illegal content (ie. child pornography) the patron has every right to complain and the librarians have every right to deny them access and report them to the authorities.

If its legal but objectionable material than is there really a legal leg to stand on? If we’re filtering porn sites, what about graphic violence? It’s still an image visible to all, and could be said to traumatize kids. It is indeed a slipperly slope.

Also, it’s not that difficult to troubleshoot around filters. I distinctly remember finding ways to get around them in high school. Privacy screens and strategic placement of computer workstations are probably the best solutions.

By: Winston

Winston — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 00:02:01 +0000

Hey libraEwoman, Of course we can define pornography – pornography is sexual material that lacks artistic and literary merit. Was that so hard? Who gets to decide what is pornography and what is not? That’s just as easy to answer – librarians get to decide which potential library materials are pornographic and which are not. We’re supposed to by skilled at building collections and making decisions about materials is our responsibility.

By: Dan Kleinman of SafeLibraries

Dan Kleinman of SafeLibraries — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 17:38:37 +0000

@Jean Costello, yes, I agree. That OpEd was written by Ernest Istook, the author of the Children’s Internet Protection Act. It appeared in numerous outlets across the country. Basically, he said the ALA is misleading many communities nationwide resulting in continued harm to children.

One would think the CIPA author saying the ALA is thwarting CIPA, particularly given the ALA’s big loss in US v. ALA, would be a major story in honest media.

Predictably, not a single main stream library media source has covered that story. The author of CIPA says the ALA is misleading communities, and CIPA is central to the ALA’s main office, the OIF, the place where ALA spends most of its money for lawsuits, and the library world is silent. No articles in American Libraries? Nothing in Library Journal? School Library Journal, hello?

Nothing.

When you ignore a story so it WON’T have legs, that’s a part of the propaganda game.

By: Dan Kleinman of SafeLibraries

Dan Kleinman of SafeLibraries — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 17:28:30 +0000

@ErinAnn said, “I am a KCLS patron and there is a group of us working to change the rules on porn viewing.” ErinAnn, please contact me if you would like my input.

By: ErinAnn

ErinAnn — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 05:15:23 +0000

How does that work for legitimate items that still may be offensive? What if I am researching breast cancer? Plastic surgery? Erectile dystfunction? Anatomy charts? All of these subjects contain pictures that can pretty graphic and not allowed in Prime Time.

Honestly interested. I am a KCLS patron and there is a group of us working to change the rules on porn viewing.

By: ErinAnn

ErinAnn — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 05:15:22 +0000

Honestly interested. I am a KCLS patron and there is a group of us working to change the rules on porn viewing.

By: Jean Costello

Jean Costello — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 12:35:34 +0000

This story still has legs. There was an OpEd in today's Orange County Register that concluded "Nobody should have the Seattle experience of shocking their children, nor of having librarians who are indifferent to the problem."

By: Kenny

Kenny — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 01:32:19 +0000

@The dude There is nothing fallacious about claiming a slippery slope argument here. Censorship against a general category of pornography could easily allow suppression of other forms of speech that may or may not be pornography depending on who the judge is. It wasn’t that long ago that even in progressive Western democracies obscenity laws prevented the publication and distribution of controversial literature and works of art. Just Google the publication history of the Tropic of Capricorn.

Certainly, my argument is not as sweeping as Tolstoy’s slippery slope claim about human nature in “The Power of Darkness”, in which one small transgression has the power to lead people to murder and other serious crimes.

I never claimed that I personally did not have strong opinions about what pornography is or is not. I said that crafting such a distinction would be difficult to enshrine in law. And that is the blunt instrument that we have to consider when talking about information access at the library.

By: The dude

The dude — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 00:46:21 +0000

Bibliophile, while it may be legal to view pornography in the library, it’s almost certainly also legal to ban the viewing of pornography in the library. While he law doesn’t need to be changed, your library’s policy should be.

By: The dude

The dude — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 00:39:55 +0000

It’s too bad that you’re counting on the slippery slope defense, because it’s a logical fallacy. To save space here, I invite you to google “slippery slope is a logical fallacy.” You’d be wise to find a better argument.

I hope that you’re not being fully honest, otherwise you’re the first man I’ve met who was so unfamiliar with pornography and art that you cannot tell one from the other. If this is true, I hope that you do not have any collection development responsibilities.