Free Republic

Newton officials are calling their refusal to allow FBI agents access to library computers without a warrant during a terrorist threat last week “their finest hour.” Law enforcement officials say it’s a “nightmare.” Police rushed to the Newton Free Library after tracing a terrorist threat e-mailed to Brandeis University to a computer at the library. But requests to examine computers Jan. 18 were rebuffed by Newton library Director Kathy Glick-Weil and Mayor David Cohen on the grounds that they did not have a warrant. Cohen, defending the library’s actions, called the legal standoff one of Newton’s “finest hours.” “We showed...

OCALA, Fla. -- A 50-year-old classic novel about forbidden love is shaking things up in Marion County. The controversy centers on the book "Lolita" and whether it's obscene under today's standards, WESH 2 News reported. "Lolita" is a famous novel full of pages and pages of sexually explicit material about pedophilia. "I believe that you, at least hypothetically, could read this book and consider it obscene," said Terry Blaes, of Dunnellon. She challenged the Marion County Commission to determine whether they should pull "Lolita" from public library shelves, as they have the right to do so. "I want you to...

Controversies over books in public libraries -- mostly school libraries -- have been around for decades but a new round of protests by parents is breaking out in Maryland, Virginia, California, Arkansas and other states. With the introduction of a new genre of literature and the presence of the Internet, this battle has taken some new twists. Moreover, much of the usual propaganda promulgated by the American Library Association (ALA) regarding "censorship" and "book burning" is increasingly falling on deaf ears. It’s a dirty little secret that the librarians of today are far removed from the prim and proper characterization...

Liberals have no real solutions for what ails the country. In fact, their solutions are usually the cause of what ails it. But, rather than realize their errors and change, they use whatever propaganda they can, to reinforce what they what to believe, and what they want us to believe. It is said that the first casualty in any war, is the truth. This we have seen in MSM’s disregard for accuracy and their often palpable duplicity in their war on Truth. Anyone, not remotely isolated, by geography or fantasy is aware of that. But it isn’t just the MSM...

LONDON, Ontario, January 6, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The London Public Library responded to drug use in its Central branch by installing needle disposal units in convenient locations.The library also offers information promoting homosexuality, both in literature and on their website.Disposal units were installed at the library, in the men’s public washrooms, during December 2005. Library staff were finding used needles plugging the drains, on the floor and in the sanitary napkin disposal units. Louis Dillon, who uses the library regularly, told the London Free Press he’s afraid the disposal units could act as a magnet for drug addicts.“I know there...

I was wandering around the public library just a few days before Christmas when I suddenly had a pang of conciense (which happens rarely enough, truth to tell). I wondered: what happened to the public libraries in New Orleans, Gulfport and Biloxi in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita? Then I took this thought a step further: what will happen to public school libraries if and when state and municipal governments in storm-ravaged areas finally get around to repairing and revamping their education systems? So, I did little research. A quick Google search netted me exactly sixteen (count 'em)...

You've probably heard about the UMass student who claimed that Department of Homeland Security agents visited him after he checked out Mao's Little Red Book from the library. Well, he has now admitted that he made the story up.

Library agrees to allow display of full nativity scene after ADF letter to library officials prompts mayor to make request BARTLETT, Tenn. - Officials with the Memphis Public Library System have agreed to allow figures representing the baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and the wise men back into a nativity scene on the Bartlett Public Library's community shelves. News of a letter to the library by an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund apparently prompted the mayor of the city of Bartlett to ask the library to reverse their decision to exclude the figures. "I'm sure just about everyone would rather...

The mayor of a Memphis suburb today asked the staff of a local library to allow the public display of a full nativity scene after officials had barred figurines representing Mary, Joseph, Jesus and the wise men, saying their presence would be "inappropriate." As WorldNetDaily reported, the prohibition by the Memphis Library system resulted in a nativity scene that included just three farm animals and a shepherd boy. The controversy arose when Brandi Chambless, a member of the music ministry at Broadmoor Memphis Church, submitted an announcement for display on the Bartlett Branch Library's community shelves regarding the church's upcoming...

Government officials do not have the authority to pick and choose which items in a Christmas nativity scene are acceptable for display," said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Nate Kellum. MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Attorneys at the Alliance Defense Fund are working to educate library officials in Memphis about the unconstitutionality of their exclusion of Jesus, Mary, Joseph and the wise men from a nativity scene. "It truly is ridiculous that we even have to discuss whether a nativity scene can be displayed at Christmas," said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Nate Kellum. "Libraries are supposed to encourage free expression and thought. Government...

Bartlett library keeps baby Jesus out of nativity display Dec 6, 2005, 10:02 PM CST You can see Santa on the door here, there are also Happy Chanukah, Kwanzaa and Merry Christmas signs inside, but you won't find any nativity scenes because the library won't allow them and that could land the library system in court. But a close look at this nativity scene at the Bartlett Public Library has something missing: Jesus, Mary or Joseph? Library officials banned the figurines from a public display. "I took one piece out at a time and I said, what about this donkey...

A staffer at the LaPorte County (Ind.) Public Library’s Coolspring branch received a one-week suspension for spending too much time attempting to rescue a squirrel trapped in the library’s ceiling. Cindee Goetz said in the December 1 Michigan City (Ind.) News-Dispatch that when a company hired by the library switched from using a non-kill trap to a kill trap, she asked a friend who owns a humane animal-removal business to capture the squirrel. Goetz said she was then suspended without pay for “not giving the library its just due.” She told the newspaper, “They said I went around the chain...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The Bush administration is siding with a Christian group in its lawsuit demanding rights to conduct prayer services at public libraries. The case concerns a Contra Costa County policy allowing the public to use free meeting rooms at its libraries, but prohibits "religious services and activities." The Sierra Club, Narcotics Anonymous and even the East Contra Costa Democratic Club have utilized the county's library facilities. The Faith Center Church Evangelistic Ministries, however, was denied access because of its religious preaching. "Because the county refused to permit Faith Center to use the meeting rooms solely because of...

Barred 'biblical marriage' forum unless it included 'opposing view' An Ohio library dropped a policy that barred a public interest group from holding a forum on traditional marriage without also inviting someone to argue for "same-sex marriage." The agreement by the Newton Falls Library Board of Trustees settled a lawsuit filed by Florida-based Liberty Counsel, which applied to the library to hold a meeting last spring that would include prayer and Scripture reading. The library denied Liberty Counsel's application, citing a policy that said, "If a program deals with a controversial subject, then all sides of the issue must...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Two women who once accused Bill Clinton of sexual misconduct toured his presidential library Wednesday on a trip paid for by the publisher of a book critical of Clinton and his wife Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. Kathleen Willey and Juanita Broddrick criticized what they called a campaign of intimidation meant to silence them after they came forward with their allegations. "If she (Mrs. Clinton) is such a champion of women and women's rights and women's empowerment, then she needs to explain her role in what they tried to do to us," said Willey, a Virginia real...

Oct. 31, 2005 issue - On Nov. 1, if all goes according to plan, workers at the University of Michigan, Harvard and Stanford will begin piling all of their books, old and new, onto carts and delivering them into the maw of scanners furnished and financed by Silicon Valley's wunderkind, Google. Employees of the search giant will scan the books and make digital copies, which will then be made accessible and searchable to the 80 million Internet users who visit Google.com every month. To James Hilton, an associate provost at Michigan, the ability to browse books online is nothing short...

Anybody see the Intel Centrino laptop advertisement on the front page of The New York Times ?

Charles Harmon Director of University Relations Sementha Mathews Manager of Public Information and Media Relations 5,000-year-old treasure rediscovered in library storage room Dr. Melanie Byrd, professor and coordinator of planning and program review in the History Department, holds a piece of the treasure in the palm of her hand. Valdosta State University Odum Library has uncovered an ancient treasure that excites even the mildest Indiana Jones wanna-be. The treasure is a collection of 5,000-year-old Babylonian cuneiform clay tablets, dating back from 2300 BC to 500 BC. Cuneiform is one of several writing systems of the ancient East, in which wedge-shaped...

LOS ANGELES - Internet filters will be installed on all county library computers, the result of a mother with her 4-year-old daughter encountering inappropriate images on another patron's computer screen at the Canyon Country library. Children's computers in the county's 84 libraries will have a more inclusive filter, while adult computers will have a filter that blocks only sexually explicit images. Most blocked images can be unblocked at an adult patron's request. The move comes at the urging of Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, whose 5th District includes the Antelope and Santa Clarita valleys. After the mother complained, the Board of...