Library Guilty of Religious Discrimination; Another Censors and Discards Books Having Christian Content

Seaside Public Library in Seaside, OR, has been found guilty of religious discrimination and will now pay for its sin.  Liberty Counsel gets the credit for this:

• "Seaside Library Changing Policy Following Lawsuit," by Jeremy C. Ruark, Seaside Signal, 20 July 2012.

The real sin is that libraries continue to discriminate against Christians even after similar religious discrimination cases have been decided for religious freedom:

• "Library Denies Civil Rights of Christians and is 'As Blatantly Un-American and Unconstitutional As You Can Get,'" by Dan Kleinman, SafeLibraries, 15 June 2008.
• "Children's Christian Artwork Censored in Menomonee Falls Public Library," by Dan Kleinman, SafeLibraries, 12 April 2010.
• "New Smyrna Beach Dumps Evil Christians," by Dan Kleinman, SafeLibraries, 21 February 2010.

See also:

• "Faithful Christian Canadians Not Welcome On Library Boards," by Dan Kleinman, SafeLibraries, 23 July 2009.
• "How Selection is Used to Censor: The ALA, Conservative Christians, and the Annoyed Librarian's Tour de Force," by Dan Kleinman, SafeLibraries, 8 October 2008.
• "ALA Personally Attacks ALA Councilor Who As a Conservative Christian Sometimes Stood Alone Against 180 ALA Councilors Debating Non-Library Issues; Young ALA Members Urged to Stand Against the ALA When It Takes on World Issues Having Nothing To Do with Librarianship," by Dan Kleinman, SafeLibraries, 14 June 2010.

Even the American Library Association [ALA] is on the right side on this issue:

• "Library Gets Religion; ALA Right Again," by Dan Kleinman, SafeLibraries, 23 June 2009.

But I believe ALA has more work to do to get out the message so more libraries will not lose more money in religious discrimination cases.  Speaking of which ...

Lancaster Public Library Censors and Discards Books with Christian Content

Book warning children against sexual predators

censored and discarded by the Lancaster Public Library.

On a related point, I am currently investigating the facts in a religious discrimination case where it appears the Lancaster Public Library, Lancaster, PA, has discriminated against placing a book in its collection precisely because of its religious content.  The book teaches children how to attempt to recognize and stop sexual predators.  It gaves this important message a religious twist, and that was the stated reason the library refused to place the book in its collection.  It may even have thrown out many copies purchased by the donor instead of returning them.

I predict you won't hear the ALA decry the censorship of this book, in part since it fakes censorship controversies to promote its own agenda:

• "Banned Books Week is Gay Promotion? Author Admits ALA Faked 2010 Top 10 Challenged Book List," by Dan Kleinman, SafeLibraries, 26 September 2011.

Read a "Censored" Book:  Sara Sue Learns to Yell & Tell

Want to read a "censored" book?  The very one the Lancaster Public Library "censored" and threw out?

Read a "censored" book before another library throws it out!  Visit and purchase the "censored" "Yell & Tell" books!


NOTE ADDED 22 JULY 2012:

Illustrative of the discrimination/damage caused by the Lancaster Public Library in rejecting the Yell & Tell books on children defending against sexual predators, even if from a Christian perspective, is the following:

• "Awareness is Our Best Defense Against Pedophiles Like Jerry Sandusky," by Jerome Elam, The Washington Times, 21 July 2012, emphasis mine:

  We now face a new evil, and the trial of Jerry Sandusky is the Pearl Harbor in that war against child abuse. It is our call to action, both survivors and the rest of society to establish a united front against the vandalizing of our children’s innocence. We have to empower and educate parents and establish programs in our schools, public and private, along with our churches, youth leagues and summer camps to educate adults and children about the signs of child abuse.
  
  ....
  
  We also need to enlist the aid of those individuals whom children idolize in the sports and entertainment industries to make public service announcements about recognizing and reporting child abuse. We need to explore every avenue to arm children with the ability to trigger a chain of reporting that effectively deals with any inappropriate sexual behavior before the curtain of silence falls.

NOTE ADDED 24 JULY 2012:

While the library is busy banning Christian books and the ALA has not and likely will not do anything about this, the ALA is actively promoting:

• "Muslim Journeys: an NEH Bridging Cultures Bookshelf"
• "Bridging Cultures Bookshelf: Muslim Journeys"
• "Pathways of Faith"

Public libraries promoting one religion's free speech while squelching another's is a problem, is it not?  Remember, "Know the ALA."


NOTE ADDED JULY 29 2012:

I have asked Lancaster Public Library to respond directly to me on this issue within a month.  So far, after about a week, no response.

Think about this.  Using the library's religious discrimination as the reason to keep children from identifying and reporting sex abuse, the Lancaster Public Library is doing the *exact opposite* of what is being sought by Erin's Law, emphasis mine:

All it took was one night for my innocence to be stolen.  From ages 6-8 1/2 and 11-13 two men molested and raped me.  I wasn't telling because nobody had educated me to tell.  The only message I was getting was from the men abusing me.  These men told me they would come get me, they knew where I lived, no one would believe me, I had no proof, and I would destroy my family if I told our secret.  There are children across this world being told the same thing I was told and I have now made it my mission to educate and empower every child with their voice through Erin's Law.  A law I am determined to get passed in all 50 states.

See: http://www.erinmerryn.net/erins-law.html

Yell & Tell books educate/empower children to tell, yell and tell.  Lancaster Public Library's religious discrimination is standing in the way of educating/empowering children to yell and tell.  Is it not?




NOTE ADDED 4 AUGUST 2012:

I just found a story about the Lancaster Public Library showing it knows it is wrong to block books.  These are quotes that, even if not good library practice, apparently do not apply to Yell & Tell books:

• "The goal of the library is to buy things people in the community want to read"
• "Whether or not the book is considered 'good' by any measure is up to the public"
• "Taking books off the shelf isn't the point of the library"
• "It's not the library's job to censor material"
• "Ephrata library's Penny Talbert, left, and Manheim library's Barbara Basile see their job as catering to library patrons' requests, not thwarting them"

"No 'Shades' of Censorship Here; When It Comes to Blue ‘Grey’ Trilogy, Librarians See Things in Black and White"

Originally Published Jun 02, 2012 23:53

By LYNN ONDRUSEK

Staff Writer

Sunday News (Lancaster, PA, USA)

E.L. James' erotic novel "Fifty Shades of Grey" is causing a stir in communities across America, and it's no different here.

The book and its two sequels — focused on the twisted sexual relationship of an innocent college girl and a young tycoon with control issues — have been in high demand in the Library System of Lancaster County.

That's kept copies off library bookshelves, making local library patrons wait to check out the trilogy's titles.

Within the library system last week, there were 161 holds on 25 copies of the book, according to the system's online catalog.  Sixty-two of those holds were registered from Lancaster Public Library, said Heather Sharp, community relations manager.

The book, often referred to as "mommy porn," has also been downloaded as an e-book 15 times, according to Mary Ann Heltshe-Steinhauer, spokeswoman for the library system.  The two other books in the trilogy, "Fifty Shades Freed" and "Fifty Shades Darker," have eight downloads each.

The "Fifty Shades" craze is just reaching Manheim Community Library.  Executive Director Barbara Basile said it has been a sleeper so far.

"It took a bit of press to wake up [readers]," she said.  "I think once the teachers are off from school, it will pick up."

Basile said her library ordered the book after getting a number of requests for it.  The goal of the library is to buy things people in the community want to read, she said.

That's why this small-town library and others here haven't pulled the questionable book off the shelf, as is being done in some areas in the country.

Whether or not the book is considered "good" by any measure is up to the public, said Heltshe-Steinhauer, adding that the storyline and publicists' hype have sparked readership.  So much so that Adamstown Area Library had to order more copies to meet patrons' demands, said Sharon Haney, head circulation assistant.

Taking books off the shelf isn't the point of the library, said Penny Talbert, executive director at Ephrata Public Library.  That would be doing a disservice to the community, especially in the case of a book in high demand, she explained.

"Libraries carry things that may be offensive to people," she said.  "But if you don't want to read it, then you don't read it.  It's not the library's job to censor material."

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Library Gets Religion; ALA Right Again

Took five years, but another library finally got religion.

From "Court Rules Against Contra Costa County on Use of Library Room for Religion," by John Simerman, Contra Costa Times, 22 June 2009:

The meeting room at the county library branch in Antioch has been booked for Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, American Idol auditions, gospel play rehearsals, even a party to celebrate National Hot Dog Month.

Now, religious groups are free to worship there, too.

A federal district court judge on Friday barred Contra Costa County from enforcing a ban on religious services in the room, nearly five years after Faith Center Church Evangelistic Ministries sued after being shut out of the room.

The issue for Judge Jeffrey White was not the ban on worship. A federal appeals court panel in 2006 ruled that the county could exclude certain categories of speech in the room, including religious services, without running afoul of First Amendment rights.

But the devil is in the details: The county, White wrote, cannot figure out how to enforce the ban — how to distinguish worship from speech with a religious viewpoint — without excessively delving into religion.

....

The American Library Association [ALA] weighed in on the matter that led to this, and once again, I'll have to give credit to the ALA. From "Battles over Meeting Rooms," by Doug Archer, OIF Blog [ALA], 15 June 2009:

Libraries are about providing a place where people can read, listen to, view and otherwise access whatever they wish — from serious research to recreation. In collections of books, videos and CDs this is pretty obvious. What's so different about meeting rooms? If a community group wants to gather in a public room for a legal purpose, why should we care what their point of view is? As long as no single group or view point is allowed to monopolize a limited resource like a public meeting space what difference should it make to us as keepers of the space?

What should we do? Simple, set up a set of content neutral rules that mandate appropriate behavior and apply them to all community groups — dog lovers, cat fanciers, lepidopterists, gun collectors, philatelists, cooks, political parties, advocacy groups, the Klan, even church groups!

The ALA called it right. Bravo!

See also, "Meeting Rooms: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights," by ALA Council, American Library Association, 2 July 1991, ISBN 8389-7550-X.

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