Filtering Facts and Family Friendly Libraries Announce list of:"10 Most
Unsafe Public Libraries for Children"
www.filteringfacts.org
For Immediate Release
Friday, September 10, 1999
In conjunction with Dr. ...'s call for the picketing of libraries that
supply children with pornography, Filtering Facts and Family Friendly
Libraries have announced a list of the "10 Most Unsafe Public Libraries for
Children". All 10 of these libraries are large systems that provide
unfiltered Internet access to all children, and will do nothing to intervene
when children are accessing pornography.
The 10 worst libraries are: alpha by State
California: San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sonoma County (in California)
Illinois: Chicago Public libraries
Missouri: St. Louis, Denver
New York: The New York Public Library
Oregon: Multnomah County (in Oregon)
Texas: San Antonio
Washington: Seattle
"Our hope is that publicly identifying the worst providers of pornography to
children will help spur action to win back parental rights and protection
for children in these libraries", said Filtering Facts President David Burt.
"As a librarian, it is both an embarrassment and a disgrace that these
libraries are still doing this", Burt added.
Karen Jo Gounaud, President of Family Friendly Libraries said, "It's time to
hold our public officials accountable. These libraries and too many others
like them have abused the public trust. Endangering children in a public
library out of ignorance would be irresponsible. Doing it with full
knowledge of what is really transpiring is criminal and should be stopped."
1) The New York Public Library, New York, New York Despite numerous
complaints and pressure from elected officials, the 82-branch NYPL system
refuses to do anything to stop children from openly viewing pornography.
NYPL's Internet policy is "guided by the following American Library
Association statements" and "does not limit access to materials or attempt
to protect users...Parents or legal guardians must assume responsibility for
deciding what library resources are appropriate for their own children."
2)Los Angeles Public Library, Los Angeles, California LAPL's official policy
is "the library does not monitor an individual's use of the Internet; nor
does the library utilize filtering software... As with other library
materials, supervision of a child's use of the Internet is the
responsibility of a parent or legal guardian." A parent recently described
this policy in action when he "witnessed a young man, not more than 13 or 14
years of age, viewing sexually explicit adult material over the Internet. I
pointed this out to the librarians and nothing was done about it."
3) St. Louis Public Library, St. Louis, Missouri SLPL has refused to release
the records it has of children accessing pornography. SLPL's policy is among
the most radical in the nation: "The Library cannot censor access to
material nor protect users from offensive information. Under Missouri law,
the parents of minor children are responsible for their children's use of
the Library and its resources. Parents of minor children are responsible for
their children's use of the Internet through the library's connection."
4) Denver Public Library DPL fought attempts to obtain copies of patron
complaints about its Internet policy that says, "The Denver Public Library
cannot control the information available over the Internet and is not
responsible for its content." Among the complaints were "My ten-year-old
nephew was in the library doingsome research...At the adjacent terminal, a
man was on the Internet, in full view of my nephew, he had a screen up that
clearly and graphically showed objectionable adult content. My sister
approached the employee in the area", who said "there was nothing more that
could be done."
5) Multnomah County Public Library, Portland, Oregon MCPL's policy, "affirms
the right and responsibility of parents to determine and monitor their own
children's use of library materials and resources.... All users are asked to
respect the privacy of other users and not attempt to censor or comment upon
what others are viewing." MCPL has received many patron complaints about
children accessing pornography, such as this from a shocked parent: "I
observed a 10-12 year old male watching a pornographic internet site in the
Capitol library. I brought this to the attention of a staff member who told
me that "We don't restrict access to material here." and that "You shouldn't
be looking over someone's shoulder."
6) Sonoma County Public Library, Sonoma, California SCPL's policy states
that "All Internet resources accessible through the Library are provided
equally to all Library users. Parents or guardians, not the Library or its
staff, are responsible for the Internet information selected and/or accessed
by their children." In one shocking incident a library staff member
complained to administration that "There are three men on my shift who come
in regularly, perhaps daily. One views child pornography." In a responding
e-mail message, the library supervisor told the staff member "the best thing
for staff is to ignore it."
7) San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco, California SFPL's policy
says "The Library does not monitor an individual's use of the Internet; nor
does the Library employ filtering software."
8) San Antonio Public Library, San Antonio, Texas SAPL's policy states that
"Parents are responsible for monitoring their own children's use of the
Internet if they feel supervision is necessary." Parents have filed numerous
complaints about children accessing pornography.
9) Seattle Public Library, Seattle, Washington SPL's policy states that,
"Children who use the Internet unsupervised may be exposed to inappropriate
or disturbing information and images." On a librarian discussion list, one
SPL librarian described this policy in practice: "A woman came to the ref
desk to report that two teenage girls were looking at porn on the net. We
have privacy screens installed, so this woman had to stand right behind them
to find out what they were doing. When told to stop, she refused and
complained to us that our policy was meaningless if it didn't protect the
children. I pointed out that our policy is not designed to protect people."
10) Chicago Public Library, Chicago, Illinois CPL 's policy states that "It
is not within the purview of the Library to monitor access to any resource
for any segment of the population." CPL has fought attempts by elected
officials to protect children in the library.
Freddie F Smith Sr
http://www.lsprisonministries.org