Free Republic

Books are fine, but why do we need taxpayer-funded bookmobiles? For that matter, why do we even need taxpayer-funded libraries? Hasn't anybody heard of the bookstore? I thought government was to put out fires and defend the borders. Not to give us stuff to read. I mean, thanks to the private sector, it's already everywhere you look. If I simply bought one copy of every magazine offered at the corner Mobil station — covering everything from Kawasaki motorcycles to Esquire women we love to Forbes financial advice — I'd be reading for the next year. Yet, now the poor taxpayers...

BEVERLY (Mass.)— Beverly's public library director was arrested yesterday for allegedly showing gay pornographic movies to a teenage boy and allowing him access to sexually explicit Web sites over the past two years. Thomas Scully, 56, who has managed the city's libraries for 19 years, pleaded not guilty in Salem District Court to a charge of disseminating obscene material to a minor. He has no criminal record. Beverly Mayor Bill Scanlon said he was "terribly shocked and saddened by these allegations" and would put Scully on paid administrative leave "until things clarify," adding that "everybody is innocent until proven guilty...

Libraries in Steinbeck Hometown Endangered Sun Apr 3, 5:01 PM ET Entertainment - AP SALINAS, Calif. - More than a hundred supporters turned out Sunday for the end of a 24-hour "read-in" to help save the libraries in John Steinbeck's hometown. People gathered to hear writers, actors, musicians and activists read passages from their favorites works outside Cesar Chavez library, one of the Salinas libraries facing closure. Facing record deficits, the City Council voted in December to shut all three libraries in the city memorialized in Steinbeck's 1952 novel "East of Eden." If they close, the blue-collar town of 150,000...

The Washington Times www.washingtontimes.com Prisoners of conscienceBy Nat HentoffPublished January 31, 2005          The public library in Vermillion, South Dakota, celebrated its 100th anniversary last year, and also exemplified the freedom to read in this country by being the only American public library to show concern for those independent Cuban librarians whom Fidel Castro sent to prison for 20 and more years in 2003 for daring to allow Cubans the freedom to read.     On Nov. 18, the Vermillion Public Library Board of Trustees voted to sponsor the Dulce Maria Loynaz Library in Havana, Cuba, which, like other imperiled independent...

This November, Judy Blume was presented with a medal from the National Book Award Foundation. The same day, Madeleine L’Engle received a medal from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Though both authors are best known for their books for teenagers, they couldn’t be more different. Blume made her name as the writer of Deenie, Forever, and other young adult novels known for their sexual themes and explicit descriptions. Typically, many of the articles written to celebrate her medal pictured Blume as a sort of big sister who provided guidance and reassurance about premarital sex, masturbation, and similar topics. Washington...

The nation's 115 million home computers are brimming over with personal treasures - millions of photographs, music of every genre, college papers, the great American novel and, of course, mountains of e-mail messages. Yet no one has figured out how to preserve these electronic materials for the next decade, much less for the ages. Like junk e-mail, the problem of digital archiving, which seems straightforward, confounds even the experts. "To save a digital file for, let's say, a hundred years is going to take a lot of work," said Peter Hite, president of Media Management Services, a consulting firm in...

Yesterday I had the good usual weekly talk with my mother over the phone. She lives in Labelle, Florida, not too far east of Ft. Myers. She had just finished her 6 hr all-volunteer phone drive to help get President Bush re-elected. It went pretty well. She then proceeded to tell me that a few days earlier she tried to view some of my postings that had gotten on the Blogs for Bush website at the local Labelle public library's computer. You'd only have 30 minutes to log on if other people are wanting to use the computer. The first...

Yesterday I had the good usual weekly talk with my mother over the phone. She lives in Labelle, Florida, not too far east of Ft. Myers. She had just finished her 6 hr all-volunteer phone drive to help get President Bush re-elected. It went pretty well. She then proceeded to tell me that a few days earlier she tried to view some of my postings that had gotten on the Blogs for Bush website at the local Labelle public library's computer. You'd only have 30 minutes to log on if other people are wanting to use the computer. The first...

A traveling exhibit that examines war's consequences will be on display at Central Library from Oct. 8 through 14 (one week only!). “Beyond Fear-Toward Hope” is a multimedia journey through the words, images and sounds of the Iraqi War. Visitors move through a memorial to the war's soldiers (rows of empty boots) and civilian victims (wall of names), statements made to justify the war, an outline of war expenses, and an interactive opportunity to contribute toward peace. The exhibit was created by the Great Lakes American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and is being brought here by Kansas City's AFSC. Grand...

Statement from ALA President-Elect Michael Gorman on the destruction of Department of Justice documents CHICAGO -- The following statement has been issued by President-Elect Michael Gorman, representing President Carol Brey-Casiano, who is currently in Guatemala representing the Association: Last week, the American Library Association learned that the Department of Justice asked the Government Printing Office Superintendent of Documents to instruct depository libraries to destroy five publications the Department has deemed not "appropriate for external use." The Department of Justice has called for these five public documents, two of which are texts of federal statutes, to be removed from depository libraries...

A few days ago my daughter related how she took my ten-year-old Grandson to the Eau Gallie, FL (near Melbourne) public library to check out some books. She turned him loose in the kids' section while she looked for some books for herself. A while later, they each took their stack of books to the counter, checked them out, and went home. My daughter didn't inspect his choices any farther than the covers - big mistake. This is one of the books he chose (cool cover, right?): Gunsmith Cats: Bonnie & Clyde by Kenichi Sonoda Published by Dark Horse Comics"Meet...

Contact: Larra Clark Press Officer 312-280-5043 For Immediate Release June 22, 2004 ALA hosts special screening of "Fahrenheit 9/11" for members, attendees at Annual Conference in Orlando Proceeds to benefit association's intellectual freedom, USA PATRIOT Act education efforts (CHICAGO) The American Library Association (ALA) will host a special benefit screening of "Fahrenheit 9/11" for members and attendees at the 2004 Annual Conference in Orlando, Fla., Sunday, 10 p.m. in the Orlando Convention Center Auditorium. The screening is an encore of sorts for Moore, who previewed "Bowling for Columbine" to a standing-room-only crowd two years ago and met Ann Sparanese...

Library drill team run by the book Four staffers pushing carts do choreographed routines to march from `River Kwai' By Carol Biliczky Beacon Journal staff writer Librarian Penny Marshall marches to the beat of a different drummer -- one festooned with balloons, with a library book cart in tow. As a member of the Stark Carters, she's part of a fledgling movement among librarians: book-cart precision drill teams. Marshall believes the Stark County District Library may have the first team in Ohio, but it's not alone in the nation. Many libraries have started the teams to build community spirit and...

NY Library Association - Library Lobby Day 2004 March 16, 2004 8:30 am – 3:30 pm Albany, New York Empire State Plaza Convention Center - Meeting Room 6 For NYLA members, Library Lobby Day is both hard work and exhilaration. Veteran NYLA members, coming to Albany often from the farthest reaches of the state, know the day is spent best if plans are made well ahead: appointments with legislators made and an agenda for discussion designed. Discussions with legislators, whose opinions of library issues range from full support to mild disinterest to outright opposition, can be lively and invigorating. Library...

<p>A 19-year-old Springfield man has confessed to setting the Jan. 19 fire that damaged computer equipment and thousands of books at the Library Center, police said Sunday.</p> <p>Jared Pearce Rupp was released from the Greene County Jail on $10,000 bond on Sunday after Springfield police arrested and questioned him on Saturday.</p>

Librarians Against Israel: The Outrage Continues Posted 1/29/2004 By George Baker Editor`s Note: A year ago (the issues dated Dec. 27, 2002 and Jan. 17, 2003, to be precise) The Jewish Press featured a pair of front-page essays by a librarian who, under the pseudonym N. Leonard Tolkan, examined a phenomenon we called ``Librarians Against Israel.`` The author documented case after case of anti-Israel (and, not incidentally, anti-U.S.) bias in the ranks of America`s librarians and demonstrated how that bias affects the selection of books, films, and lecture presentations on the part of our public libraries. The situation has not...

U.S. Castro backers squelch prisoners' plea American librarians in battle over colleagues jailed in crackdown American librarians sympathetic to Fidel Castro's communist regime are battling to prevent their national organization from responding to a plea from independent librarians imprisoned in Cuba for up to 26 years. As WorldNetDaily reported, 14 members of Cuba's Independent Library project were swept up in a crackdown last March on charges that included making available the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and books such as George Orwell's "Animal Farm." Meeting in San Diego this week, the American Library Association is scheduled to vote on a...

Nat Hentoff A U.S. Librarian Defends Castro Books to Overthrow Castro? January 5th, 2004 2:00 PM Ann Sparanese, a member of the governing Council of the American Library Association, has written a letter to the Voice criticizing my columns about Fidel Castro's prison sentences of 20 and more years for 75 Cuban dissenters, including 10 independent librarians. To her credit, she says, "I don't have the right to speak for the entire American Library Association." She is exercising her First Amendment right to speak for herself—the basis for the intellectual freedom, including the freedom to read, that until now the...

[PLEASE SEE FREEP EMAIL INFORMATION AFTER THIS ARTICLE]The ALA: "Castro's favorite librarians" PROVIDENCE, RI, December 24, 2003 (Providence Journal Op-Ed) - The American Library Association is concerned about Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act, which lets the FBI, while investigating terrorism, match lists of books with their borrowers. U.S. Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft says that he is not invoking Section 215, but, as the ALA points out, that does not prevent its use in the future. The ALA supports the right of people to gain access to information without qualification: in the words of its slogan, "Free People Read...

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Martha Freeman got the bad news at lunch from her publisher and literary agent. Although "The Trouble With Babies" had received good reviews, the sales of her children's book about a young San Francisco girl were poor compared with the first title in her series, and the paperback rights would not be sold. But more stunning was the reason: A brief passage buried in the book about two gay fathers and their adopted son apparently had discouraged many librarians from buying the title. Although they had enthusiastically purchased Freeman's previous book, "The Trouble With Cats," the...

Are you tough enough to be a Santa Cruz librarian? Think twice before you answer. For the past six years, 76 workers' compensation claims in the city-county library system amount to about $460,000 in medical bills, lost work time and other costs. There were 17 claims last year alone. That's a far higher injury rate than other systems report. • With four times the workforce at about 400 employees, Santa Clara County's library system reported 18 worker claims in 2003. Los Gatos' public library, with a staff of 32, had one injury claim in 2003. • A San Jose Public...

What has particularly irritated the attorney general is the vigorous dissent of many American librarians to Section 215 of John Ashcroft's Patriot Act, which allows the FBI to match lists of certain books with their borrowers as part of investigations into terrorism. The attorney general finally declared he is not using that provision of the act, but librarians point out that he did not say he will never implement it in the future. Accordingly, more and more librarians are informing people who come to the libraries about that law, and suggest they urge the attorney general to protect their right...

The UCLA Student Chapter of the American Library Association, UCLA Library, and UCLA Library Committee on Diversity invite you to the ALA Spectrum Scholarship Celebration Sunday, November 23, 2003 2-4 p.m. Faculty Center Sequoia Room UCLA Honoring writer and filmmaker Michael Moore's contributions to librarianship and diversity. Mr. Moore recently made a generous contribution of $25,000 to the Spectrum Scholarship Fund. Signed copies of his recent book Dude, Where's My Country? will be raffled by the ALA Student Chapter, with proceeds benefiting the fund, and additional donations are welcome. Refreshments will be served. Parking available for $7 in Lot...

Private security forces have been cracking down on homeless citizens who use Dallas libraries and other public amenities as daily camping grounds and living quarters, the Dallas Morning News reports. The enforcement of existing rules regarding loitering and the adoption of new ones limiting the size of bags that can be brought inside libraries are aimed at discouraging vagrants. Mary Suhm, Dallas' assistant city manager, said that while, the homeless have a right to use public facilities, the city will vigorously enforce the law, especially in cases of drug use and sale, a common occurrence with the homeless. "When I...

<p>At last, the Archie McPhee novelty company in Seattle is about to start shipping to stores the latest addition to its eclectic roster of action figures. Soon to join Ben Franklin, Albert Einstein, Stainboy, the Albino Bowler and other toys not likely to be found in the collections of Incredible Hulk aficionados: the Librarian. Modeled after Nancy Pearl, the Seattle-area bibliothecary who in 1998 launched the popular "one city reads one book" campaign, the five-inch-tall Librarian wears a long skirt and sensible shoes. This being an action figure, she also -- if you press a button on her back -- swings a finger up to her lips in a shushing motion.</p>

<p>Attorney General John Ashcroft denounced as "hysteria" the contention by some librarians and civil liberties groups that the FBI can use a new anti-terror law to snoop into Americans' reading habits.</p> <p>In a speech Monday to an American Restaurant Association conference, Ashcroft said people are being wrongly led to believe that libraries have been "surrounded by the FBI," with agents "dressed in raincoats, dark suits and sunglasses. They stop everyone and interrogate everyone like Joe Friday.</p>

A board member of the Cook Memorial Public Library, Libertyville, IL, has come under fire from several patrons after he removed a free newspaper, which they called an act of censorship. Board member Jack L. Martin defended his actions, calling the Reader's Guide to Arts and Entertainment "pornographic" and claiming it had no place in the library. The suburban version of the alternative weekly Chicago Reader, the publication, which emphasizes information on local entertainment and dining, sported the headline "Dial M for Motherf---er." Both Martin and a patron removed between 20 and 30 copies of the paper.Reader's Guide publisher Jane...

DENVERPOST.COMDestroying freedoms to save them Sunday, August 24, 2003 By Diane Carman , Denver PostColumnistThe line that got me was the one Attorney General John Ashcroft used on the stump last week. Ashcroft was trying to rally the masses in support of the one government initiative that has succeeded in uniting the political left and the right, albeit in rabid opposition to it. He said the USA Patriot Act, which expands law-enforcement powers to levels that make J. Edgar Hoover's legendary goons look like Girl Scouts, "ensures liberty." He said this with a straight face. I kept thinking that something...

Even as the leftist American Library Association continues to denounce anti-porn Internet filters, librarians in Minneapolis have settled their lawsuit over workplace exposure to Web smut for $435,000. "We believe the financial settlement in this case sends a strong message to libraries around the country that they must take the concerns of their employees seriously," the 12 librarians said in a joint statement. "The agreement includes changes or potential changes in several operating areas, chiefly the beefing up of penalties against Internet violators. A violator could be suspended from all city libraries for up to one year after repeated violations,...

A dozen librarians at the downtown Minneapolis library have settled their lawsuit over exposure to Internet porn for $435,000 and an agreement by the library to make operating changes, their lawyer said today. Library officials confirmed the settlement in a statement. They didn't confirm the amount, but said it involves a payment from their liability insurer. Lawyer Bob Halagan, representing the librarians, said money wasn't the point of their claim of a hostile work environment. But he said that they sought a sufficient payment so that library officials elsewhere would take such staff complaints seriously. As part of the operating...

A group of parents has succeeded in having a book banned from the Rosedale School District's libraries. The book they object to is called "What My Mother Doesn't Know" by Sonya Sones. It was removed earlier this summer. Parents thought the book was inappropriate for middle-school students. The book is a group of poems written from a teenage girl's point of view as she goes through her first crushes and romances. Parents objected to passages in the book that include explicit language about sexual attraction, menstruation and the discovery of one's body. However, some parents feel that banning the book...

Thanks to an increase in property values, the Miami-Dade Public Library System expects to gain an 11 percent increase in library funding for fiscal year 2003-04. The Board of County Commissioners of Miami-Dade County has accepted the recommendation by Mayor Alex Penelas and County Manager George Burgess to maintain the current millage rate. The library system's total revenue will rise to an estimated $60.2 million. "This marks the fourth year that the Board of County Commissioners has demonstrated its vote of confidence in the library system," said Library Director Raymond Santiago. The library system has been its own tax district...

Tennessee State Librarian Edwin Gleaves has threatened to remove books from two libraries if their budgets are not restored, since state law says funding must be maintained at certain levels to receive state support. Gleaves is demanding that the Dickson County Commissioners restore $50,000 to the area library or he will yank roughly 20,000 books off shelves, which represents roughly 25 percent of its overall collection. Gleaves made identical charges regarding the White House Library, which would lose 9000 books comprising more than half its collection. The library’s budget has been slashed by $12,000. He has given both sets of...

NEWS For Immediate Release July 25, 2003 Contact: Mark Gould, PIO Director312-280-5042 CIPA Decision/Response: A statement from ALA President Carla D. Hayden and the ALA Executive Board July 25, 2003 The American Library Association (ALA) has a long-standing commitment to ensuring access to information for all. It advocates for a free and open information society and for equitable access to knowledge and information resources in all formats for all people. In December 2000, Congress passed an appropriations bill that included a requirement that any library receiving federal E-Rate or Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) funds would be required to...

<p>Richard Kreimer, a former homeless man who cashed checks worth $230,000 after settling lawsuits against Morristown police and the Joint Free Public Library of Morristown and Morris Township during the 1990s, has filed another suit that claims a local Chinese restaurant refused to serve him on July 11.</p>

Has the American Library Association (ALA) become Fidel Castro's latest "useful idiot"? On the surface, it seems implausible: Any organization dedicated to the uncensored dissemination of books, journals, and ideas would naturally be critical of a dictator who suppresses liberty with an iron fist. After all, a champion of open expression can't be indifferent to Castro's persecution of free thinkers, right? Well, according to several top members of the ALA, maybe not. A dispute at the association's annual conference in Toronto last month revealed a troubling obtuseness about the status of human rights in Cuba.The "controversial" issue at hand was...

<p>Family Resource Center will begin Bilingual Story Time, or Cuentos Bilingües, each month, sponsored by the United Way of Treasure Valley´s Success by 6 and the Caldwell Public Library. Children´s librarian Candi Ciscell will select Spanish and English titles for pre-schoolers and recruit parent volunteers to help with the children.</p>

<p>In a victory for parents seeking to protect their children from pornography, the Supreme Court voted 6-3 last week to uphold a law requiring that public libraries install anti-porn Internet filters as a condition of receiving federal funds. The plurality opinion upholding the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) was written by Chief Justice William Rehnquist on behalf of four of the six justices in the majority &#8212; himself and Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Sandra Day O'Connor. CIPA, signed into law in 2000, was never permitted to take effect due to a lawsuit filed by the ACLU and the American Library Association (ALA).</p>

A Planned Parenthood affiliate agreed today to settle a lawsuit brought by three pro-life activists barred from a library the agency ran as part of a public system. The abortion provider has agreed to pay damages in the suit. "This is a severe blow to Planned Parenthood's efforts to infiltrate public libraries," said Kelly Shackelford, chief counsel of the Liberty Legal Institute, the organization representing the women. "This should send a message to every level of government, if you team up with Planned Parenthood to push just its viewpoint, a lawsuit is sure to follow." As WorldNetDaily reported, Planned Parenthood...

As a graduate student in library science, I am constantly encouraged to join the America Library Association (ALA). Although the ALA is SUPPOSEDLY designed to help librarians network and to provide new sources of information, it is in actuality anything but. At the ALA's conference in Toronto this past week, guest speakers included Ralph Nader, Gloria Steinem, and Naomi Klein. While I disagree with everything these speakers stand for, I support their right to free speech. However, I do not support their right to speak at a convention designed for librarians. The current governing body of ALA consists of nothing...

Anti-pornography ruling affects local libraries PORTLAND - Today's US Supreme Court ruling upholding a law mandating the use of Internet filters in public libraries, is a bitter blow for Multnomah County. The county library was one of the main plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the Children's Internet Protection Act of 2000, which requires libraries to install filters - or lose federal technology funding. The library and others argued that the law relied on imperfect technology to censor constitutionally protected speech. Now, libraries receiving federal support must use the blocking technology, and disable it for patrons who ask. Cindy Gibbon,...

Custodian Trashes Library Art Exhibit Tue Jun 24, 8:25 AM ET BOULDER, Colo. - It's art to some, yes, but apparently not to the custodian who threw away the newest exhibit at the Boulder Public Library. After being pulled out of the garbage, "My Favorite Place to Walk in Boulder: Or Found Trash Objects" officially opened Friday at the downtown library. The display features common trash found by University of Colorado art students in otherwise scenic spots citywide. "This is a slightly different kind of art," said Karen Ripley, director of cultural programs. "It's not meant to be beautiful. "One...

WASHINGTON (Talon News) -- The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that public libraries must filter out pornography from their computers, despite claims by some librarians that this hinders free speech. With more than 14 million people, including children, accessing the Internet in public libraries each year, the court was concerned about the amount of time people were giving to web sites with overtly sexual content. This ruling declares that the government can freeze funding to any library that does not comply with the installation of anti-pornography filters. "To the extent that libraries wish to offer unfiltered access, they are free...

<p>The Supreme Court yesterday rejected claims of censorship and upheld a federal law that requires federally funded libraries to block Internet pornography sites from children by equipping its computers with filtering software.</p> <p>"To the extent that libraries wish to offer unfiltered access, they are free to do so without federal assistance," said the main opinion written by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist.</p>

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A sharply divided Supreme Court ruled Monday that Congress can force the nation's public libraries to equip computers with anti-pornography filters. The blocking technology, intended to keep smut from children, does not violate the First Amendment even though it shuts off some legitimate, informational Web sites, the court held. The court said because libraries can disable the filters for any patrons who ask, the system is not too burdensome. The 5-4 ruling reinstates a law that told libraries to install filters or surrender federal money. It was victory for Congress, which has struggled to find ways to...

Is FBI watching what you read? Hudson libraries react to 'Patriot Act' The type of intrigue that usually is the provenance of spy novels and conspiracy theories has irked local librarians. With the passing of the "Patriot Act" in October of 2001, a month after the Sept. 11 attacks, federal agencies' ability to legally and covertly gather information on citizens has been greatly expanded, including governmental access to what people read from public libraries.Last week, the Union City Friends of the Library delivered a letter to the office of Rep. Bob Menendez (D-13th Dist.) officially protesting governmental access to what...

<p>REDDING - There are holes in the heart of the main library. The shelves appear flush, but so many books are missing. The works of Updike and Oates skip over the '80s. Volumes of the Best American Short Stories run from 1942 to present, but 1988-90 is a gap-tooth break in the stacks. And the 60-year O. Henry Prize Stories collection stops abruptly in 1989.</p>

“Only the beginning,” filmmaker says The American Library Association (ALA) is pleased to announce that Michael Moore, author, activist and winner of the 2002 Oscar for best documentary film, has donated $25,000 to support the ALA Spectrum Initiative. Moore originally pledged this support for Spectrum during a speaking engagement at ALA’s June 2002 Annual Conference in Atlanta.

Top StoriesLibrary to look at privacy policy Friday, April 25, 2003By Myron KuklaThe Grand Rapids Press HOLLAND -- Library patron Jon Den Harder wants the Herrick District Library to protect library user information from abuse by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other government agencies. Den Harder asked the board Thursday to create a policy that will protect the constitutional rights of citizens and lets them know their freedoms of unlawful search has been diluted by the USA Patriot Act passed after the terrorist attacks Sept. 11, 2001. "As a private citizen, I am concerned about the expanded intelligence gathering...

Judge orders Potter books back in Arkansas school libraries By CARYN ROUSSEAU, Associated Press LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (April 22, 8:59 p.m. PDT) - A federal judge ordered Harry Potter books back onto an Arkansas school district's library shelves Tuesday, rejecting a school board's claim that tales of wizards and spells could harm school children. Ruling in favor of a fourth-grader's parents, U.S. District Judge Jimm Larry Hendren ordered the Cedarville School District to put the four books in J.K. Rowling's popular series back in general circulation. The district's board drew wrath from national free-speech groups for its June decision to...