A library spokesman explained the law to me but refused an interview. He also initially did not want to let ABC-7 inside the library, until asked to provide a statute or ordinance that prohibited ABC-7 from entering a public building. He did not do that and granted ABC-7 access.

It also demonstrates how the official library stance on this matter puts front-line library staff in the cross-fire. Rightfully or not, the issue gets boiled down to “protect perverts or protect children”. Front line staff and the library brand will be damned either way.

Child pornography is beyond obscene and it’s illegal, so yes, people who view child pornography should be not only banned from the library but arrested, etc. I think most librarians would report it even if they only strongly suspected such a vile crime. Or, again, am I being naive about that?

I’m a middle-aged African American woman. And I’m an alumna of Fordham University College at Lincoln Center. Last summer, I was accused not by a librarian, but by security guards(one of them also a black woman, the other, her boss, a white man) at FCLC Quinn library of looking at porn. –I was actually viewing pictures of Buddhist and Hindu art.

They escorted me to the security office, took my id away and wouldn’t give it back. I had to call the police to get my id and make them explain why they tried to hold me. The cop talked to them and it turns out that they thought I was looking at pictures of women’s butts, “Big Black Butts!” They didn’t believe I was only researching Eastern/religious art for a book project I was working on.

(I think they were both Catholic and equated any form of nudity with graphic pornography. I’m not a Catholic/Christian. I also don’t believe that all adult, sexually explicit images are obscene, or, that all little boys and girls are necessarily scarred for life if they happen to see an adult at the library looking at nudes.)

I reported the incident to the alumni office and the director of security. A few weeks later, I was “cleared” by the director after he conducted a “forensic investigation” of the computer I’d used. I still threatened to sue the guards and the university, just for the hell of it. I accused them of racial profiling, sexism and blatant stupidity. Yet, I seriously think that deep down they thought they were protecting sacred values and community standards of decency, or something like that.

The director and alumni office sent me 3 or 4 emails apologizing profusely and I eventually let it go.

But this is why I’m against filters and trying to control what adults do a libraries so much.

I think most librarians would report real, serious crimes immediately. I don’t blame them for not wanting to put filters on library computers. It really does filter a lot of legitimate information. The supreme court ruled that libraries have right to do install filters, but I’ve always assumed most don’t because it’s too much of a hassle to disable a lot these filters quickly, or to make them just so they only filter out the really “obscene” stuff.

Most public libraries I’ve visited are large enough so that they can have separate, screened off areas for people who may to view legitimate photographic images and films for art, medical science, etc. research.

And, in my experience, most libraries and museums do restrict the viewing of sexually explicit photos and films to screened off areas and ban people they think have violated library rules or committed crimes. But maybe that’s just in NYC.

I do not believe that the ALA is advocating for perverts to be able to openly view child porn. They just don’t want to take any chances on restricting access to legitimate information, though it might contain explicit nudity, or other types of content some people may find obscene.

I find Rush Limbaugh extremely obscene, but I don’t want radio producers to ban him from the radio.

“Does that mean a child can check out Playboy or other materials intended for adults?: We believe in freedom of choice for all people but we also believe in common sense. It would be extremely unusual for a young child to check out that type of adult material. Most libraries are designed with special areas for children and teenagers. And there are librarians to provide assistance. We also provide suggested reading lists to help them make appropriate choices. Our goal is to provide the best possible service for young people, and we are very proud of what we offer. If you haven’t been to our library recently, we encourage you to come and see for yourself!”

In other words, yes, a child can check out Playboy any time he or she likes. And if the author thinks it would be extremely unusual for a child to “check out” adult material like that, she must never have been a boy.

http://www.ala.org/advocacy/banned/challengeslibrarymaterials/copingwithchallenges/strategiestips

“A librarian is not a legal process. There is not librarian in the country—unless she or he is a lawyer—who is in the position to determine what he or she is looking at is indeed child pornography.”

Source: “Libraries vs. Police in a Suit Sparked by Porn; Kent Case Centers on People’s Rights and Protections,” by Jeffrey M. Barker, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 13 August 2002.

Regarding, “ALA may offer guidelines but all libraries are free to implement their own,” that is deceptively false. Ernest Istook, the author of CIPA, has just written an enlightening article on how the ALA forces its way on local communities, endangering children. See: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/02/27/4294010/libraries-need-not-expose-kids.html