Now Showing at the Library: Porn

The Washington Post ^ | June 25, 2006 | Laurence Leamer

[4yearlurker]

If people want porn magazines let them pay for 'em. No problem. If they want to view this crap on my tax dime, then I have a problem. Please don't get me wrong. I have nothing against librarians in general or the ladies I mentioned. Some neighborhoods are rougher than others.

[oceanview]

good points. which is why I think most "generic" public libraries in the US should be closed. we don't need them, they are a drain on taxpayers, there are other ways to get books in the online world. and the only way to solve the problem being discussed on this thread, is to pull all PCs from public libraries. you are never going to see strict enforcement on this.

[plan2succeed.org]

More misinformation. You said, "Libraries work hard to keep the library a safe place for all people to enjoy."

Wrong!

Judith Krug, de facto leader of the ALA, said "I get very concerned when we start hearing people who want to convert this country into a safe place for children...." "Oak Lawn Library Vows to Keep Playboy on Shelf," by Jo Napolitano, Chicago Tribune, Jun 23, 2005.

[art_rocks]

Here's the $64,000 question. Is a male library employee allowed a pin up calendar in his work space?

If they think this is harassment of woman, then why aren't men who openly viewed sex on the internet considered harassment.

I would thne ask for them to have Playboy and Penthouse as part of ther periodical collection.

[jazusamo]

I would thne ask for them to have Playboy and Penthouse as part of ther periodical collection.

Ha! Some of the branches in this district used to have Playboy out on the shelves. First they put them behind the counter but if a 12 year old asked for it they would give it to them. Finally, they got so much flak that they discontinued the subscriptions with the excuse that their funding for subscriptions was lacking.

[art_rocks]

I started laughing so hard, I almost woke up my wife who is sleeping on the other side of the house.

[plan2succeed.org]

Librarians have already sued for harassment and won, where a huge settlement was used to hush up the case so other librarians don't get the idea to sue for harassment. See No Smut At Work, Please, for example.

[NavySon]

"What appalls me is the utter hypocrisy of those who allow this to go on in the name of liberty"

"...no one should be forced to open a book that is offensive."

"...no right to expose children to this filth, destroying their innocence in the institution that is supposed to nurture their minds."

Good point, now apply these opinions to public SCHOOLS!

[D-fendr]

Or, "I guess your wife won't let you look at gay porn at home."

[art_rocks]

I thought there was a case where the library worker claimed internet porn created a hostile work place but didn't know how it ended.

Thanks.

[sarasmom]

For some odd reason, I can't reply directly to your post to me...hmmmm.

So just to clarify things, a "fat black man" was acting inappropriately in a public library, and you expected the "elderly ladies" to handle a situation you were too cowardly to address yourself, and when they declined to enforce library rules, which you say were already in place, you just quit going to the library.

Suffice it to say, I would never knowingly make the mistake of counting on you as one of my neighbors that are worth a damn.
And BTW, any 300lb man illicitly viewing porn at a public library, of any race, is not on my top forty list of "dangerous and intimidating" individuals.

As far as being "down here", just how far south do I have to be?
I already live south of I-4!

[esoxmagnum]

[Ha! Some of the branches in this district used to have Playboy out on the shelves. First they put them behind the counter but if a 12 year old asked for it they would give it to them. Finally, they got so much flak that they discontinued the subscriptions with the excuse that their funding for subscriptions was lacking.]


Here in Chicago, they carry not only Playboy and Penthouse, but all sorts of hardcore porn, gay, lesbian and straight, as well as racial porn (IE, black porn, etc). One need only go and ask for your fetish and they will have it, free of charge, at the taxpayers expense. They even have a gay and lesbian section at most north-side libraries where it is openly displayed, and most certainly where teens are encouraged to go read and become 'diversified'.

Don't worry, if this sort of activity is not in your town yet, it will be soon, if the ACLU has any say in the matter.

[Rocco49]

Please don't just give half a quote that supports your position when obviously the remainder addresses real problems. We DO NOT have to convert the world where any child can walk in anywhere. There should be places for children and places for adults, and I don't mean porn but not everything is about children.

[Rocco49]

There is one of the real problems, it's not just your dime. Your dime gets you a voice in the conversation and you should use it! Find out what really goes on in Libraries, it will startle you. My wife has run out bums and homeless who want to use the place for a shower and bed, called the police on parents who dump their kids there for hours so they can go shopping and think the Library is a babysitter and the list goes on and on. I'm glad the porn issue is being discussed so people will become engaged and active in the problems of a Public library. They are many.

[Admin Moderator]

Your post in response #17 had to be removed because you completed the excerpted Washington Post editorial in your response, and by doing so you bypassed Free Republic's copyright rules.

[SR 50]

ping

[beaversmom]

Thank you for the ping.

[Warrior_Queen]

Guess what else, your tax dollars fund sex manuals on library shelves too. I work in a public library in a large northeastern city, I'm sickend by what I see being spent in the name of public interest. There's gay sex manuals for teens, comic books that have the shelf life of about a week, slasher movies and pulp porn in spanish--and the list goes on. It's all about having a high volume of circulating material and counting the number of patrons that walk through the door. That way they can bleed the tax payers for more funding. Needless to say, the local govenrment doesn't blink an eye because they're all Dems.

[Ike]

My library system went to great lengths to comply with CIPA, though we receive no direct federal funding. The only federal funding libraries receive, to my kowledge, is in the form of LSTA grants for technology, not for operating expenses.

[Ike]

BRAVO!

Sorry, but that post called for shouting! The blaming of librarians for this problem reminds me too much of liberals blaming poverty or racism for bad people. Many librarians do not support the ALA and its positions, nor do we buy the books that are pushed on us if we don't think they're appropriate for kids.
That said, we're not baby-sitters, either! If you want to know what your child is being exposed to in the library, for Pete's sake, go along! If you're concerned about a book, read it first!
Oh, and by the way, don't let them watch TV from 3 pm - bedtime - from Dr. Phil til the 11 0'clock news. I'm more appalled by what I see there than by most of the books in the library.