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A federal law banning lead and other toxic substances in products for children 12 and under has raised new concerns. Some libraries have pulled children's books that were printed before 1986 because lead was used in printer's ink before then. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the chances of those books containing lead harmful to children is low. At least two libraries didn't want to take any chances and removed the books from their shelves. The Consumer Product Safety Commission interprets the new federal law to include books but hasn't weighed in on whether older books could cause...

Lincoln police nabbed a man at a public library where they say he'd been approaching teenage girls. On Friday, police were listening at the 14-year-old girl's end of a phone conversation in which Mohammed Nadeem allegedly arranged to meet her at the library for sex. And, they waited there to arrest him when he arrived. They booked Nadeem, 4800 N. 15th St., Apt. 111, on suspicion of attempted sexual assault in the first-degree. Prosecutors have not yet charged him. In the affidavit for his arrest, police said Nadeem, 22, sat next to the 14-year-old at Eiseley Library Thursday and asked...

This just in: Those demented fascists at the Miami-Dade School Board are banning books again. A careful check of school libraries shows there is not a single copy to be had of Babbette Cole's Mommy Laid An Egg, Or Where Do Babies Come From? You can take that title very literally, by the way; the book includes several colorful illustrations of Mommy and Daddy performing the act that leads to babies -- on skateboards, in a bouncy Space Hopper, in balloons in mid-air. Oh, and because Mommy Laid An Egg is a product of modern, nonsexist pedagogy, equal time...

School Libraries May Soon Be Historyby Paul C. Clark Staff Writer January 22, 2009 Some local educators are imagining a future in which schools have no libraries. Quick, thoroughly unscientific visual surveys of the libraries – called "media centers" in eduspeak – of Guilford County high schools of late give the impression that they're hardly beehives of activity, at least as far as books are concerned. The percentage of space dedicated to books instead of computers seems to have shrunk over the years, and a scan of the shelves turns up relatively few newly acquired books. The use of the...

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to consider attempts to revive a 1998 law intended to protect children from Internet pornography, ending a legal conflict dating to the administration of President Bill Clinton. Without comment, the court handed down an order declining to take the case of Mukasey v. A.C.L.U., No. 08-565. The administration of former President George W. Bush, through Attorney General Michael Mukasey, had asked the justices to review the law. The American Civil Liberties Union has been a leading foe of the statute. The Child Online Protection Act has been the subject of court battles...

Mayor Nutter said yesterday that five of the 11 library branches once scheduled to close permanently on Thursday are instead on track to be taken over by private foundations, wealthy individuals, companies, and community development corporations. ( ... ) "Libraries are much more than repositories for books. We know this," said Nutter, who ordered 11 of 54 branches closed as part of a larger plan to address a $1 billion five-year budget gap. "They are the absolute complete nexus of community life." Nutter made his remarks at a City Hall news conference where he was loudly heckled by dozens of...

Like the Willie Horton case in the 1988 campaign only worse. It goes to the heart of who and what all-too-many among the left-wing of the Democratic Party really are. I was hoping that this would become a major issue in this campaign. Perhaps it's not too late - if enough people will join in to make it one - though email, websites, letters to the editor and calls to family and friends.   Excerpt: "If You want to know who they really are - i.e. all-too-many on the left-wing of the Democratic Party, the "Progressives" who idolize Barak Obama...

As part of the microscopic scrutiny applied to Sarah Palin’s record, the public has been told that as the incoming Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska in 1996, Palin dared to ask the town librarian what would happen if anyone objected to an inappropriate book. She merely inquired, but "anti-censorship" activists, perpetually filled with visions of a trash can full of burning books, exploded. At the time, the Anchorage Daily News captured the librarian, one Mary Ellen Emmons, putting up her First Amendment dukes. “I told her clearly, I will fight anyone who tries to dictate what books can go on the...

There's a childhood epidemic sweeping Minnesota and the nation. Its warning signs aren't fever or skin rashes. The symptoms are behavioral -- and unmistakable. Consider a recent, particularly virulent outbreak of the affliction in Maplewood, N.J., as reported by the New York Times. In the last few years, out-of-control kids from the middle school have overrun the town's library after school. They routinely mouth off to librarians, disrupt common areas, leave restrooms a shambles and race about, sometimes almost knocking over elderly patrons

Much of the substance of this election comes down to this question: "do we want people with values like those held by the leadership of the American Library Association - in general - and Judith Flint and Amy Grasmick - in particular - to be in control of this country and guiding its children?

...the nature and extent of Sen Obama's left-wing agenda doesn't seem to have penetrated into the awareness of the American public...They just don't associate him, the "Progressive" movement and the Democratic party with the kinds of infringements...that have come to be seem as "normal" in everyday life...things such as...parents being threatened for spanking their kids...public libraries that let paedophiles in - while keeping Christians at bay...kids being punished in school for drawing pictures of their soldier relatives...

ALA to Libraries: Keep Alms for Jihad, Pulped in the UK Andrew Albanese & Jennifer Pinkowski -- Library Journal At the urging of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF), a scholarly book pulped by its British publisher is maintaining a safe haven in U.S. libraries. Alms for Jihad was the target of a potential libel suit in England by Sheikh Khalid bin Mahfouz, whose charitable activities have reportedly been linked to terrorist activities, as conveyed in the book. In response, publisher Cambridge University Press (CUP) pulped its unsold copies of the book, put it out of...

Many in the Central Valley farm town of Lindsay were shocked when a man was arrested after allegedly viewing photos of nude boys on a computer in the local library. But even more shocking was the dismissal two days later of the library branch's lone employee, who said she alerted police over the objections of her supervisor. The firing of aide Brenda Biesterfeld has prompted a prayer vigil outside the library, a stinging letter from the City Council to Tulare County officials, rumblings about the town of 11,000 breaking off from the county library system and a wave of anger...

Story title: Child Porn Suspect Ordered to Stand Trial; Man Accused of Accessing Images on Unfiltered Library Computer A computer glitch actually prevents the library from protecting a criminal from arrest! Story excerpt: ROYAL OAK - When James Mullaney got timed out of his computer session at Royal Oak Public Library, James Boothe said he logged on to the same terminal and was appalled at the screen that appeared. "It was child pornography," Boothe told 44th District Court Judge Terrence Brennan. "...I was taken aback by the images and I got up immediately and notified the desk." The computer screen...

Public libraries are stocking hundreds of Islamic books by advocates of "holy war", with many glorifying acts of terrorism, a new report claims. Council taxpayers' money has been spent on the books, with one library stocking works by the convicted preachers Abu Hamza and Abdullah al-Faisal. An investigation by a leading think-tank found extremist literature at six libraries, three in the London area, two in the Midlands and one in the North. It raises fears that public libraries could inadvertently fuel the radicalisation of young Muslims. The recent case of Dhiren Barot, who was jailed for 30 years for plotting...

The unassuming international champion of universal health care, Michael Moore, was asked (New York Sun, June 29) whether, while filming "Sicko," he inquired about the condition of Cuban journalist Normando Gonzalez, a political prisoner since 2003. He has contracted severe chronic illnesses while in a Castro gulag. Moore answered that he asked only about Cuba's health care system while he was there. Among other suffering prisoners in Cuban cells who would have added further dimension to "Sicko" are independent librarians, put away for more than 20-year sentences for the crime of giving Cubans access to books and other publications forbidden...

Sacramento Officials Refuse to Ban Online Porn in Libraries City: Sacramento, CA Officials who oversee the Sacramento public library system rejected pleas from parents and students late last week to prohibit the viewing of online pornography in libraries. At a public hearing late Thursday, parents and students pled with the Sacramento Public Library Authority Board (SPLA Board) to protect kids from the dangers of allowing pedophiles and other sex addicts to view online porn in libraries. One student related a personal experience of trying to conduct research while sitting next to someone viewing online porn. A number of library systems in...

Mary Kay Feltes will get a present Wednesday as part of an unusual foreign aid package from Mexico. "I can't wait to open the box and see what's inside," said Feltes, assistant director of the Owatonna Public Library -- one of 82 organizations around the state that will receive a box of 55 Mexican textbooks. The books will be given to school districts, libraries, community centers, universities and penitentiaries throughout Minnesota and northern Wisconsin. The books, all in Spanish, are similar to those used in Mexico, covering everything from social sciences to mathematics. However, these books were produced by the...

(AP) RACINE, Wis. -- A registered sex offender is headed back to prison after a woman at the Racine Public Library saw him using a computer to view child pornography and reported him to the staff. William C. Norris, 58, of Racine, sentenced this week to five years in prison, previously served a sentence for second-degree sexual assault of a child and was out on bond after being accused in 2005 of violating the state's sex offender registry. The library incident happened a year ago and resulted in four counts against Norris of possession of child pornography. He pleaded guilty...

My mother never had the opportunity to attend college. Yet, on her nightstand, next to her bed, could always be found books by the likes of a Evelyn Waugh, C.S. Lewis, or Robert Louis Stevenson. The product of parochial schools and an America that still treasured high-quality literature, my mother breathed the healthy air of culture not yet polluted by the corrosive effects of the radicalism of the 1960s, rampant egalitarianism, consumerism, or postmodernism. My mother's literary tastes, an inheritance, really, of the society into which she was born and raised, came to mind as I read of the purging...

SAF Sues Library System Over Internet Censorship of Gun Websites The Second Amendment Foundation and three Washington State residents have filed a federal lawsuit against a north-central Washington regional library system for denying them access to websites that include information on firearms and publications dealing with guns. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington in Spokane. Joining SAF in the lawsuit are Sarah Bradburn of Republic, Ferry County; Pearl Cherrington of Twisp and Charles Heinlen of Okanogan, both towns in Okanogan County. They are represented by the Seattle firm of Rafel Manville, and...

WASHINGTON (Hollywood Reporter) - Federal authorities are seeking information about the effectiveness of entertainment industry efforts to keep adult products out of kids' hands as customers migrate to the Internet and mobile services from brick-and-mortar stores, according to showbiz executives. The data will form part of the Federal Trade Commission's congressionally mandated biennial report on the way the entertainment industry markets adult fare. FTC spokeswoman Jackie Disdul said the commission has yet to set a schedule for the report's release. "The last time they did the report, online content was barely a glimmer in anyone's eye," said one industry executive....

KIDS, PORN AND POLITICS Sunday, September 10, 2006 David Reinhard, Assoc. Ed. The Oregonian Editorial Rob Brading had a chance to stand up for children and blew it -- twice. The Democratic challenger to House Speaker Karen Minnis had a chance to champion the common-sense notion that children are different than adults and said nothing -- twice. Brading had a chance to protect kids from pornography when they're in Multnomah County public libraries and did nothing -- twice. First, as a member of the Multnomah County Library Advisory Board, he voted for the county to join with the American Civil...

The dean of library services at the University of the Incarnate Word has canceled the library's subscription to the New York Times to protest articles exposing a secret government program that monitors international financial transactions in the hunt for terrorists. "Since no one elected the New York Times to determine national security policy, the only action I know to register protest for their irresponsible action (treason?) is to withdraw support of their operations by canceling our subscription as many others are doing," Mendell D. Morgan Jr. wrote Wednesday in an e-mail to library staffers. "If enough do, perhaps they will...

NORFOLK - A judge ordered that a grand jury should consider a felony charge against a man accused of propositioning a 14-year-old girl at a shopping mall. The man, Charles A. Speller, was charged in March with producing sexually explicit material after the girl said Speller offered her $200 to be in his "porno." The girl and her father testified on Tuesday during a preliminary hearing. The Virginian-Pilot is withholding their names to protect the girl's privacy. The girl's father said he saw the man approach his daughter twice as they walked through The Gallery at Military Circle. He lagged...

After fighting for nearly a year to keep details of a counterterrorism investigation secret, the federal government has abandoned efforts to obtain library records in Connecticut, concluding that the implied threat had no merit. The decision was hailed yesterday as a victory by the four Connecticut librarians who mounted one of the few known challenges to the nation's strengthened antiterrorism law when they filed a lawsuit last summer objecting to the government's request for patron records and its insistence on absolute secrecy. Government officials, in seeking to explain why something that was once a matter of national security was no...

HASBROUCK HEIGHTS, NJ -- Library Director Michele Reutty is under fire for refusing to give police library circulation records without a subpoena. Reutty says she was only doing her job and maintaining the privacy of library patrons. But the mayor called it "a blatant disregard for the Police Department," which needed her help to identify a man who allegedly threatened a child. Reutty, the director for 17 years, now faces possible discipline by the library board. Members of the Borough Council have suggested she receive punishment ranging from a letter of reprimand in her personnel file to a 30-day unpaid...

First Lady Laura Bush, who served as a public school teacher and librarian in the Houston, Dallas and Austin school systems, is scheduled to speak to the American Library Association's (ALA) annual conference in New Orleans next week. The First Lady isn't planning to speak about anything political. The non-controversial topic of her panel: "School Libraries Work: Rebuilding for Learning" in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Nevertheless, her mere scheduled presence has moonbat activists within the ALA steaming. On a library e-mail list publicized on the SHUSH blog ( http://www.SHUSH.ws ) this week, ALA councilor-at-large Mark Rosenzweig's rant must be...

The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) is a division of the American Library Association that likes to offer sexual advice for teens (check: Healthy Relationships for Teens). One of the web sites they recommend (under Resources for Teens: Sexuality and Sexual Behavior) is the Coalition for Positive Sexuality. The organization can be also found at Wikipedia. Parents of teens, meet the CPS. It was designed for “teens who are sexually active now or just thinking about having sex.” So, next time you talk to your teen about sex, tell him to “Just Say Yes”: Just Say Yes is about...

By Steve Crampton AgapePress June 13, 2006 (AgapePress) -- Laurie Taylor is the mother of two school age children. She lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Like most parents, she cares about her kids' education. So, when she discovered the school library had a sexually explicit book, It's Perfectly Normal, aimed at elementary age students, she did what any concerned parent would do: she went to the administration and asked that it be removed, along with two other books with similar themes. At first, school system leaders seemed to agree with Taylor, and placed the books in a "parent library" section with...

With the reauthorization of the USA Patriot Act by Congress this past March, local libraries find themselves again confronted with having to balance the public’s privacy rights with the potential practice by federal authorities of section 215 of the anti-terrorism bill. Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act, allows the FBI to obtain any tangible things such as records or books, and other relevant material, from any entity without having to show probable cause that the person whose records it seeks is engaged in criminal activity. Additionally, those served with Section 215 orders to turn over any relevant material are...

Last year children's librarian Debby At- well put a new set of encyclopedias on the shelf at Thomaston Public Library. A year later, it has yet to be touched. "I have never seen an encyclopedia lifted from the stacks," Atwell said. Librarians across the state report the millennials, the generation born roughly between 1980 and 2000, are not using libraries the way past generations did. Reference materials are gathering dust on the shelves of libraries everywhere. Reference librarians are being reassigned to other tasks, and library directors are pondering the future role of the traditional lending library. The trend has...

A renewed effort by several members of the American Library Association's governing council would sever all ties with the Boy Scouts of America until the youth organization stops "discriminating" against avowed atheists and homosexuals. In 1998, the governing council of the ALA, the world's largest library organization, condemned the Boy Scouts over its policies, but a WorldNetDaily investigation reveals activists quietly are planning to take action at the association's annual convention in June. The renewed effort is led by Mark Rosenzweig, formerly an official archivist with the U.S. Communist Party and a chief defender of Fidel Castro in the ALA...

Scott Savage, reference librarian for Ohio State University --- suggested four best-selling conservative books for freshman reading......and is being investigated by the university - for sexual harassment. Three professors filed the discrimination and sexual harassment charges, saying the books Savage suggested -"The Marketing of Evil" by David Kupelian, "The Professors" by David Horowitz, "Eurabia: The Euro-Arab Axis" by Bat Ye'or and "It Takes a Family" by Senator Rick Santorum - made them feel "unsafe." Savage contends he made the suggestions after other committee members recommended books with a left-wing slant. The school's faculty voted - without dissent - to allow...

Harry Potter supporters united Friday to defend the boy wizard. Fans of the popular children's series were outraged that a Gwinnett County parent wants the books removed from Gwinnett public school libraries. A hearing on the complaint is scheduled for Thursday. Laura Mallory, the parent who filed the complaint, said the books conflict with her Christian beliefs. She said the stories glorify witchcraft. "There are so many problems facing our children today — drugs, alcohol, violence and the growth of the occult, too," Mallory said. "These books are helping to mainstream witchcraft. These books are dangerous and harmful to our...

(AgapePress) - State representatives in Oklahoma have approved proposed legislation that would require public libraries to place sexually explicit materials in a separate section and to distribute such materials only to adults.Should House Bill 2158 become law, it would keep tax dollars from libraries that refuse to protect children from sexually explicit library materials. Representative Sally Kern's bill passed 60-33 and now heads to the Oklahoma Senate. The bill states that unless a library has taken action to place "all children and young adult materials that contain homosexual or sexually explicit subject matter" in an area apart from the...

When writer Marcia Segelstein headed to the bookstore to scout out books for her 12-year-old, she wasn’t sure what to expect. But she certainly didn’t expect rampant drinking, drug use, profanity, and explicit descriptions of sex and nudity. Nevertheless, that’s exactly what she found. Segelstein’s daughter had been clamoring to read the Gossip Girl series, which “‘all’ of her friends were reading,” she said. After seeing what was in the books, Segelstein was floored. But a school librarian confirmed, “They’re very popular among sixth and seventh graders.” Even worse, the librarian added, “Some parents are so happy that their kids...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- Brown University’s library boasts an unusual anatomy book. Tanned and polished to a smooth golden brown, its cover looks and feels no different from any other fine leather. But here’s its secret: the book is bound in human skin. A number of prestigious libraries—including Harvard University’s—have such books in their collections. While the idea of making leather from human skin seems bizarre and cruel today, it was not uncommon in centuries past, said Laura Hartman, a rare book cataloger at the National Library of Medicine in Maryland and author of a paper on the subject. An...

Skousen, Rand too hot for university library in ManilaWe hear from Mark Skousen that he's none too popular at the University of the Philippines -- or rather, too popular. In an article posted at the Human Events site, he quotes a friend's report on the situation, a former Marxist turned around by a critique of Marx in one of his books.Remember you sent me a box of The Making of Modern Economics?I donated a copy to the libraries of each of the four major universities here. Later, a friend of mine checked the library at the University of the Philippines...

Close the public libraries in John Steinbeck's home town? They couldn't do that? "They" not only could; they almost did. Had it happened on July 1 this year, Salinas, California, would have been the largest city in the nation without a public library. Monterey County's seat, the city has three libraries, the main one having been named after the famous writer who set several of his novels in the fertile Salinas Valley. The near-closing was not a scare tactic. It was the city council's response to a genuine financial crisis. Having engaged in cutting, squeezing, and trimming its budgets (to...

White Sox scandal periodicals resurface (12-8-05) At first, librarian Erik Kraft thought the bulky books on top of a University of Illinois study table were only out of place. But after opening the dusty, bound volumes Tuesday night, he realized they were the missing editions of a rare sports newspaper credited with first reporting the 1919 White Sox gambling scandal. With his find, Kraft became a library hero and the Case of the Missing Collyer's Eye was solved--sort of. It remains unclear how the large volumes returned to the library Tuesday night, the day the Tribune published a story about...

Sex. Violence. Profanity. They're common in the TV shows and movies teenagers watch, in the music they listen to, and, often, in their daily lives. Now, more and more, they're appearing in the books they read, as well. Increasingly, literature written for young adults is breaking taboos, prompting teachers and librarians in middle schools and high schools to question where to draw the line. "We've been thinking a lot about what the boundaries are," said Kathleen Horning, director of the Cooperative Children's Book Center at UW- Madison. On Tuesday, Horning and her staff librarians will present the workshop "How far...

Oak Lawn Public Library Patrons Say "No" to Playboy Magazine 9/30/2005 8:04:00 AM By SafeLibraries.org Oak Lawn, IL - Safe Libraries announced the results of its survey confirm that patrons are opposed to the subscription to Playboy magazine by the Oak Lawn Public Library. The survey was conducted by an independent social research firm at the village's Fall on the Green festival during September 9-11, 2005. It was initiated in response to the approval of the subscription's retention solely by the members of the Oak Lawn Public Library board of trustees on June 21, 2005. The board members contended that...

From: Kentucky Library Association Discussion List On Behalf Of Deana Groves Sent: Thursday, September 01, 2005 1:26 PM To: KLA-LIST@LSV.UKY.EDU Subject: Fwd: [ALACRO-L:2962] Louisiana Library Association Accepting Monetary Donations For Libraries The Louisiana Library Association has set up 'The LLA Disaster Relief Fund' and is now accepting monetary donations to assist school, public, and academic library restoration efforts in Southeastern Louisiana. Please make checks payable to: LLA-Disaster Relief And mail to: LLA 421 South 4th St Eunice, LA 70535 --------------------------------------------------------- Beverly E. Laughlin, Executive Director Louisiana Library Association 421 South 4th St Eunice, LA 70535 337-550-7890 (phone) 337-550-7846 (fax) www.llaonline.org

Recently, despite the terrorist bombings in London and Egypt, much has been printed in columns or spoken on news shows against the Patriot Act in the United States and against the shooting of a potential terrorist in London. A young Brazilian man ran from the police who had tried to question him because he was wearing a heavy, bulky coat even though everyone one else was in shirtsleeves in the warm weather. He ran into, of all places, a subway entrance, jumping over a turnstile and into a subway train identical to the one that had killed over fifty people...

Initiative Update as of June 7, 2005 Initiatives Qualified forthe Next Statewide Election Ballot     1067. (SA04RF0030, Amdt. #1-S) [REVISED]Termination of Minor's Pregnancy. Waiting Period and Parental Notification. Initiative Constitutional Amendment.Proponents: Paul E. Laubacher and Barbara R. Laubacher (916) 381-5222Amends California Constitution to bar abortion on unemancipated minor until 48 hours after physician notifies minor's parent/legal guardian, except in medical emergency or with parental waiver. Permits judicial waiver of notice based on clear and convincing evidence of minor's maturity or minor's best interests. Physician must report abortions performed on minors and State shall compile statistics. Authorizes monetary damages for violation....

CHICAGO - Soon, patrons of the Naperville Public Library - at least those wanting to use the Internet - will need more than a library card. They'll give a fingerprint. It sounds like something out of a Philip K. Dick novel, but the new requirement is in many ways unsurprising. The library, like other Internet providers nationwide, has realized computer users aren't always who they say they are. And the technology it will use to check up on them is fairly simple - patrons will press a glass-topped scanner. In Naperville, the identity swapping consists largely of kids trying to...

Why do we need Mother's Day anyway? Just kidding! I'm staying away from controversial topics for a while. For starters, I don't have time to read all the responses. In my last column, I questioned the need for taxpayer-funded libraries, considering that books are readily available at low prices from private sources such as Amazon.com. You could say the column did not receive overwhelming approval. In fact, for the next 2½ weeks, my computer continually flashed at me: "You have mail!" It might as well have said: "Another angry librarian!" Many of the replies were long and detailed. I almost...

PARIS (AFP) - The US Library of Congress and the French National Library have joined forces to launch a bilingual website exploring the history of the French presence in North America from the 16th to early 19th centuries. The site, which includes more than 100,000 images from the rare book collections of the two libraries, was launched at a ceremony in Paris on Tuesday. "In developing this web presentation both national libraries have done what they do best -- sift through an exhaustive amount of material in order to make our common histories comprehensible and accessible to the public," said...