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I've heard a fair amount about this issue, but there's one thing I have not seen covered at all. Does the ALA have a position on libraries voluntarily using filtering software or policies like the one you describe? From what I've heard about them, they seem to be a pretty extreme left-wing group, somewhat akin to the NEA, so my inclination would be to think they are totally opposed to voluntary measures taken to keep kids away from inappropriate material on the Internet.

To be honest with you, I keep expecting to hear that the ACLU or the ALA has sent a kid into a library such as yours to try and visit porn sites. The purpose being, of course, to file a lawsuit "protecting" his 1st Amendment rights when the library doesn't allow him access to the smut.

I think the ALA is very extreme and would not support what our local library was doing. Nothing that they would try would surprise me.

My main point would be that local librarians get their money from local government, not the ALA. You can't force local politicians to shell out big bucks for library services if the community doesn't support what the library is doing. I don't think many locals would support the likes of the national ALA leadership. Also a lot of librarians would not support the policies of the ALA or the leadership.

A lot of individuals who work in libraries refuse to join the ALA because of their extreme positions, at least everywhere that I have worked.

Because of the funding being local, it isn't like public schools. They get a lot of their money from the federal government. Libraries get next to nothing from the federal government unless it is some sort of grant or group funding for internet access.

I think you are right about what you think of the ALA and NEA but they are different issues when it comes to local control because the funding is different.

That whacko librarian quoted in the piece might have a lot of sisters out there, but libraries establish that communities have a need for them by statistics. How many people come in and use the system and check out the books? Circulation statistics are everything. The local lady who buys nonfiction isn't a big conservative, but if people ask for conservative books, and check them out and give her big circulation numbers, she is going to buy those books.
You can also have an impact on the local system if you don't approve of their policies by staying out, not going in or checking out their books. The lower the numbers they have, the less funding they get.