I'd suspect that most school districts and public libraries will end up with "the cheap stuff".
Agreed, but public libraries funded by the parents should take some simple precautions to help.
There's your key: "funded by the parents". If the parents are unhappy with the way the library is being run, they should deny funding until it's brought in line.
I have yet to see a propelling arguement why kids should be freely allowed to view porn in libraries. There isn't one.
I don't know that I've yet seen a compelling argument that kids are being "freely allowed to view porn in libraries". Have you? Do you know, or know of, children who go to the library to view porn?
I'll add that, even though I have software on my computer to ensure the kids only view "kid safe" sites, I don't leave my teenagers unattended on the internet for long periods of time, and I check the history periodically after they've been on the computer.
It should be reasonable to assume a public library is a safe place for kids. But most aren't.
I'm familiar with the public libraries in 7 counties in 3 states. All of them seem to be safe places for children - however, I wouldn't leave my small children unattended in any of them -- or any other public place, for that matter.
It's called "parenting".
Short story. A major type of porn is cartoon porn based on current cartoons kids are watching. My 13 year old son was searching for sites on Pokeman. He found one which had cartoons on it. Now, we monitor our childern closely. His only access to the internet is a computer at my office where he sits with people around him including myself.
So, much to his surprise he runs one of the cartoons on a site that has no indication it has porn and to use his words "It was gross". He saw more than he wanted to see.
If a filter can keep that type of stuff from happening then I'm all for it. Its no different than placing covers over the front of porn magazines.
The fact the ALA endorses such an idea should be more than enough for you.
And just because you have never seen it does not mean it does not happen.