4664 Successfully Petition for Filters on Public Library Computers

Public library board members like to say petitions are irrelevant, don't even bother. I was once told the public is "too unsophisticated" anyway.

Apparently, that's false. Please read "People Power Forces Porn Filter," by Nikkii Joyce, Sunshine Coast Daily, 18 August 2009.

Here are choice quotes, emphasis mine:

Community anger and a petition signed by 4664 people have forced the Sunshine Coast Regional Council to take action to install internet filters to block pornography at public libraries.

Mayor Bob Abbot has admitted the strength of the petition and an increasingly vocal public pushed the council into a corner.

....

“That is what a petition is for, to give council an indication of community feel and when the petition first came round it gave us that feel so we kept on with the process,” he said.

“The problem we faced is making a decision without the information,” Mr Abbot said.

....

Councillor Anna Grosskreutz, who has supported the campaign from the start, said a closed forum held in the morning was brief and to the point.

“There are many things that are being eroded and people and families are losing the ability to choose what they want to see or what they want their children to see, so this is a wonderful result,” she said.

....

FYI, here are more library crime and filtering stories from Australia's Sunshine Coast.

Has your library said petitions or public input are practically irrelevant? Add a comment to let others know.

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