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| Privacy screens do not stop child molestation in public libraries |
A 2003 Supreme Court decision said public libraries that receive federal money have the authority to install filters that block pornography and other obscene material that may be harmful to children until a patron asks for it to be unblocked.
Dan Kleinman, who runs the website SafeLibraries.org, said in a letter to city officials that such filters are necessary to keep library visitors safe. Privacy screens aren't enough, he said.
In an interview, Kleinman, who lives in New Jersey, pointed out that libraries already have book selection policies and should have similar guidelines that determine what people can view online.
And "privacy screens" are useless, except as political cover to make an excuse for why filters should not be used. Here’s a story from the San Francisco Bay area that may convince you, and watch what happens when the library director gets caught in a lie: "Porn, Sex Crimes At Libraries; I-Team Investigation," KGO, 29 Nov 2006 ( http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=i_team&id=4808374 ).
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| Privacy screen on library computer showing how ineffective the screen is for blocking what's displayed. |
San Francisco Bay Area, CA: "Porn, Sex Crimes At Libraries; I-Team Investigation," KGO, 29 Nov 2006, "[T]he Martin Luther King Library has a problem with pornography. They have no rule against viewing photographs or full-screen sex videos from Internet sites, even with children nearby. Chief librarian Jane Light says it's a matter of free speech. .... ABC7's Dan Noyes: 'I've seen the [privacy] screens and I see how they work and the stuff is visible from behind. You can see everything.' Jane Light...: 'So you can avert your eyes.' .... San Jose's police blotter over the past year lists several arrests for child porn at the library, at least ten cases of child molestation or other sex crimes involving kids and several cases of men viewing porn and performing a lewd act, right at the terminal. .... Sgt. John Laws, San Jose library police: 'It showed him sitting at the computer terminal and ... masturbating.' .... Marcia Stacke, Child Quest International: 'You know, sometimes I wonder if we're just too afraid to be, I don't know, sued in this country. We've got to step out and protect our kids. Enough is enough.'"
Jane Light:
"Avert your eyes"
Los Angeles, CA: "Lawless Libraries?," CBS 2, 16 Nov 2006 (An anonymous library security officer warns, "I absolutely wouldn't send my kids to any branch in the city of L.A. because they are unsafe." A librarian said, "I think that it's gonna take somebody getting killed before management really pays attention. That's how bad it has gotten." "[T]he library wants to keep this information under wraps. 'The management wants to cover this up because they don't want people to think the libraries are unsafe but all you have to do is talk to any library staff member and they'll tell you how safe it is,' the anonymous officer says.")
The establishment of the Los Angeles City Public Library rests on the Los Angeles City Charter, Article V Departments, beginning at section 530. This can be found on the Internet through the web site of American Legal Publishing (http://www.amlegal.com/library/ca/losangeles.shtml) which provides editorial and distribution services under contract to the city. You can also reach the same web site from the City of Los Angeles web site (http://www.cityofla.org/SubMenu/CityCharterRulesCodes/index.htm).
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| This public library patron is viewing pornography on a computer having a "privacy screen" of the very same kind as shown in a graphic above. Notice how little the "privacy screen" blocks. |
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| Is Los Angeles exposed to litigation risk for crimes in public libraries? |
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| Argus Hamilton |
The L.A. Public Library moved its computers across the room so people watching porn aren't visible to children at the checkout desk. City officials said people have a constitutional right to watch porn in a library. Roman Polanski is starting to think it's safe to come home.
I really have nothing to say about this. Simply another case of the inmates running the asylum. Why not just put up a little red curtain to the adult computer lab? Hell, we already check IDs at the door in some way or another. I only have one question: When do we get to have liquor licenses?
I have a response.
You said, "They believe that libraries should install filters that will block out pornographic material."
That is incorrect. My "beliefs" are irrelevant. Instead, SafeLibraries provides accurate information to communities and their leaders so that they can make informed decisions. The information provided by some is false. This is not just my opinion. The information is so false that even library directors specifically call out the "dogma" of those who seek to mislead communities. See, for example, "Library Porn Removal Roadmap; NCRL Director Dean Marney Details How to Legally Remove Legal Porn from Public Library Computers and Advises that the ALA Relies on Outdated Dogma" at http://tinyurl.com/ALAdogma or see "Librarians are Guardians of a Trust, by Jo Ellen Ringer, Notus Public Library Director and Guest Writer" at http://tinyurl.com/JoEllenRinger
You said, "The head of this organization is a man named Dan Klineman. The LA Times reports that he wrote a letter to 'city officials.' In this letter he said that 'privacy screens are not enough,' and that 'filters are necessary to keep library visitors safe.' I must confess that Mr. Klineman needs the services of a librarian to make his website more user friendly. It's really a mess. Nowhere on the website was I able to discern if Mr. Klineman has a library degree."
Setting aside the misspelling of my name, my appearance in the LA Times is discussed, then your very first reaction is an ad hominem one to attack me personally for having an ugly web site and for lacking a library degree. People who make personal attacks broadcast that they have no substantive argument on which to stand. Indeed several paragraphs are devoted just to ridiculing me.
You said, "For instance, a google search on 'breast cancer' might filter out the majority of the information."
As it turns out, that is part of the dogma exposed by the library community as false. Even an ACLU expert now admits modern filters no longer block health related information. And note, I back up my statements with facts, not personal attacks. See, for example, "ACLU v. Gonzales, E.D. Pa., March 2007." http://www.paed.uscourts.gov/documents/opinions/07D0346P.pdf
You said, "Mr. Klineman compared book selection, or collection management as it is sometimes called, to Internet policing and said they were basically the same thing. When I read this in Ms. Linthicum’s story, I was aghast."
I am not surprised to hear of this claimed surprise. Perhaps you should read or reread US v. ALA. Here's the URL for anyone to see what the Court said about this, and it aligns: http://laws.findlaw.com/us/539/194.html It also aligns with what Eugene Volokh said, "However, Volokh said the city could have a plausible argument for banning pornography in its public libraries. 'Clearly the city is entitled to decide what books to buy for libraries,' Volokh said." http://www.bhcourier.com/article/Local/Local/Los_Angeles_Council_To_Consider_Porn_In_City_Libraries/75621
You said, "If you go to Safe Libraries dot Org's homepage, you are greeted in big, bright, blue lettering with a question, 'Are Children Safe in Public Libraries?' Then directly below this question, in smaller print is the answer, Children Are Not Safe in Public Libraries. In my opinion, before somebody starts to tell someone how to run a library, that somebody should have a degree in Library Sciences."
Interesting opinion. Fortunately, the ALA's former 40 year de facto leader, Judith Krug, has a library degree. She's the one who said, "I get very concerned when we start hearing people who want to convert this country into a safe place for children. I am adult. I want available what I need to see." http://www.safelibraries.org/oak_lawn_library_vows_to_keep_playboy_on_shelf23jun2005by_jo_napolitano.htm I feel assured that I would have the full backing of the 40 year de facto leader who held a library degree to say children are not safe in public libraries. Claiming I need a library degree to make that statement that the ALA's own former leader would make is just another ad hominem attack due to a lack of a substantive basis for why people should follow ALA dogma instead of legal precedent allowing a community to protect its own children from harm.
That said, thank you for writing about me.
J.Ringer said...
I am probably the only librarian in Idaho that totally supported the filtering legislation. I made my legislators aware of my career and my backing of the bill.
Every librarian knows full well that non-filtered computers are used for pornographic purposes. No one denies it. I have yet to encounter the person who is doing breast cancer research, thus needs filter turned off.
Why should public tax dollars go to support porn addicts? That is the bottom line, not freedom of information. Is porn information? NO!
I have seen men publicly masturbating while viewing porn on library computers. When I reported this to my supervisor (at Nampa, ID library), I was told it was none of my business. I wondered if it became "our" business if he sexually assaulted some child in the library bathroom after this viewing.
I expressed my views to the Idaho Library Association and was quite disappointed that they chose to fight filtering. All filters can be turned off NOW for legitimate research.
Jo Ellen Ringer, Notus Public Library, Notus, ID
Thu Apr 07, 04:28:00 PM 2011
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| Sleeping in Public Library |
My problem is bums in the library. Not just garden-variety bums that read the newspaper, doze in chairs and sneak a nip in the stacks–I’m familiar and comfortable with those bums since they do leave. The bums I am taking exception to are addicted bums that are being fostered, fed and given money by our IT manager.
Serious respiratory problems among the chronically homeless in a shelter are as common as beer guts at a racetrack. If an epidemic strikes, the susceptibility of the homeless will translate into an increased risk of exposure for the rest of us and, eerily enough, our public libraries could become Ground Zeroes for the spread of killer flu. Librarians are reluctant to make plans for handling such scenarios because we do not want to convey the message that America's libraries are anything but the safe and welcoming environments they remain today.
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| Susan Hildreth |
It would appear that in the case of keeping children away from Internet p[]rnography, it is the library profession, not the Supreme Court, which has distanced itself from the mainstream. Our profession's 'anything goes' view of intellectual freedom simply does not square with the values of the communities we serve. N4.
Why is there such a disconnect between our profession and everyone else on this particular issue? More specifically, how could we have allowed ourselves to be put in such a publicly disadvantageous position as defending the right of children to access p[]rnography? The answer is simple and ironic. Our profession preaches intellectual freedom but does not tolerate its practice within our own ranks. Librarians imbued with common sense and good political judgment are afraid to espouse even a moderate position that advocates the limited use of filters. There is a great fear within librarianship of being branded a censor. No librarian wants to be wounded by that bullet. That's why we can never really initiate an open and honest dialogue among ourselves on issues involving even the most obvious need for limitations of intellectual freedom. As a result, the extremists always dominate, and we end up with an "anything goes" official policy that distances the library profession from mainstream America. N4.
"Each individual to have access to constitutionally protected material," Seattle Public Library Spokesperson Andra Addison said.
In Seattle, it's open access to everyone. As long as it's legal, it's okay, even if it's explicit. They're not about censorship, they're about protecting user privacy and confidentiality.
"The library believes it's the right and responsibility of parents and legal guardians to determine and monitor their own children's use," Addison said.
And that's where it comes down to choice: choice for parents, choice for the library. Libraries try to walk that line, especially since there is a wide range of what people consider explicit. But all will tell you, filters can be a false sense of security.
"You can be vigilant, and you can be proactive but you cannot prevent it," Rosemary said. N6.
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| Dean Marney |
KIRO Team 7 Investigative Reporter Chris Halsne discovered security has already ejected 432 patrons in the first four months this year for offenses like assault, drug dealing, intoxication and lewd conduct.
KIRO7 Library Misconduct
Click for Video
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In all, 1,323 conduct violations were substantiated just in 2008, a disproportionate number at the Central Library branch.
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According to Seattle Library Administrator Marilynn Gardner, nobody has to worry about safety at any branch. N9.
[M]any librarians feel unrepresented by management, and some fear retribution for speaking their minds against new policies and restructuring.
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When asked why she didn't include a librarian on the committee to provide perspectives of what day-to-day SPL employees need or believe should be added to service, Hildreth says she didn't want an internal perspective to influence the committee. "That's why we don't have [library] board members on the committee," she says.
The advisory committee isn't the only place where librarians feel silenced, though. In recent months, SPL employees have taken to anonymously posting comments on blogs to air their grievances about recent shifts in policy and what they perceive as a newfound institutional inattentiveness to the needs of many patrons. SPL employees stormed the web in protest when the December 30 edition of American Libraries magazine praised Hildreth and the library board for being "inspiring" and "ambitious."
A number of librarians have contacted The Stranger anonymously because they think the public needs to be informed that they are unhappy with SPL leadership. Common complaints include anger at the creation of a new level of middle management while entry-level positions are cut and hours are shortened; a lack of librarian input on planning, restructuring, and budget decisions; fear of retribution for negative comments (even if the comments are delivered internally, through proper channels); a lack of communication with the library board; and a long-term plan to replace qualified librarians with volunteers and paraprofessionals.
The Stranger
....
Librarians have their own hopes for [Mayor] McGinn. The mayor doesn't have much official power over the library-he approves the budget and appoints new members to five-year terms on the five-person library board-but they would like him to advocate for them. One librarian says, "It's hard for someone in my position not to fantasize about the mayor pulling Susan Hildreth aside at some future meeting and saying, 'I hear your staff is not at all happy with how things are being run lately. Not enough communication? Something about bullies? Might [be worth] watching.' It'd be nice to imagine there was pressure, however subtle, from above, for her to clean house a bit." N16.
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| How ALA and ALA Affiliate Bullies Get It Done |
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee will be holding a full committee markup at 10am on Wednesday, December 1. On the agenda for this markup, among other issues, the committee is scheduled to vote on the nomination of Susan Hildreth to be the director of the Institute for Museum and Library Sciences (IMLS). N18.
By TINA A. BROWN And STEVEN GOODE
Courant Staff Writers
May 18, 2008
A $42 million makeover has transformed Hartford Public Library into a gleaming expanse of glass and well-lit, open space that warmly welcomes visitors.
Measured by a dramatic increase in library visits, the invitation has been widely accepted. The changes inside the library's three floors went beyond adding space, reconfiguring the layout and increasing the number of books, DVDs and computers. It's become a busier place, noisier and more vibrant, something in which chief Librarian Louise Blalock — named National Librarian of the Year in 2001 — takes pride.
But it's also a place where the behavioral norms traditionally associated with libraries are often breached, according to interviews with staff members and internal library reports obtained by The Courant.
The reports document drinking and drug use, with staff members reporting that empty liquor bottles and drug paraphernalia are often left in the restrooms. Sexual activity has been reported on several occasions. The problems reached the point where the restrooms on the library's second and third floors have been locked, according to library staff.
Acts of violence inside the library, while infrequent, do occur: In January, a patron complained of being robbed at gunpoint inside a first-floor restroom; internal reports say a subsequent investigation by security staff was unable to determine what happened.
The library also has a theft problem. Without a security system in place, CDs and DVDs disappear with regularity.
Blalock says such incidents happen from time to time and she is reluctant to institute a more restrictive environment because the library is — and needs to be — a place that welcomes all, a view shared by several past and present members of the library board.
Stephen B. Goddard, a longtime board member and past board president, said the incident reports are "nothing new" and are minute compared to the half-million-plus visitors who use the library each year.
"In 24 years, from time to time there have been a handful of incidents," Goddard said. "I have chalked that up to what any public institution in a hyperactive environment is going to face in cities today."
"To Louise, things like the rights of patrons are paramount," Goddard said, adding that the board feels fortunate to have had Blalock at the helm for the past 14 years.
Blalock, who spearheaded the library's transformation, said she decided not to set rules of behavior or install security cameras or theft detection devices and instead emphasizes a free and open environment. She said she has directed her staff not to call the police if they can safely escort a patron out of the building.
As a draft statement of principle for the library puts it: "All customers have a right to use the library according to their life and learning style as long as it does not interfere with the right of others to use the library."
But some employees say Blalock has taken that philosophy too far and has failed to deal with the realities of running a library in an urban setting — something library officials in cities across the country are confronting as they grapple with homelessness, drug use, gang activity and other ills.
In the name of openness, they complain, patrons are forced to endure the misbehavior of others. The result, they say, is a chaotic workplace. Some staffers say conditions have gotten so bad they decided to go public with their complaints that the administration has failed to provide adequate security.
The inadequate level of security "has pushed us to a point that people feel that they have to go public with it," said David Ionno, vice president of AFSCME Local 1716, the union that represents library workers. "There's going to be an incident where a librarian is going to get hurt."
Copyright © 2008, The Hartford Courant
