Illinois Attorney General Update Evidencing Orland Park Public Library's Defiance of the Open Meetings Act; Arrests Possible

Dear Illinois Attorney General,

New evidence has been uncovered proving intent to defy the Illinois Open Meetings Act [OMA] in Orland Park Public Library's [OPPL] defiance of the OMA.  Therefore I ask to update the record of my previous Request for Review by taking into consideration this new evidence.

The new evidence consists of OPPL working with the American Library Association [ALA] to produce training on how to use OPPL's successful stonewalling, censorship, and suppression of free speech to defend free access to pornography in public libraries and advise librarians nationwide how to emulate OPPL's results, where ALA makes me the enemy of such efforts by saying, emphasis on IF in the original, "First off is whether you have any way to limit attendance to RAILS members.  IF Dan Kleinman or some of our detractors attend, we will need to change our content.  We've dealt with this before, so if it is an open webinar, we just need to know that."

Below is the new evidence, the ALA email dated November 7, 2014, naming me and disclosing self-censorship or the need to hide things if I or "detractors" are present.  Ernest Istook, the author of the Children's Internet Protection Act, has called me a "trusted source" on ALA misinformation ( http://tinyurl.com/ErnestIstookInterview ).  Now it appears ALA itself tacitly admits I'm a "trusted source" on its own propaganda as it announces the need to hide the propaganda when I am present to record it or debunk it.

It is no wonder the efforts within the library community in Illinois are so strong to defy Freedom of Information Act [FOIA] law.  The contents of that webinar/training would be very revealing as I was not present so ALA spoke freely.

I heard part of what ALA taught was that libraries should destroy public documents or evidence of illegality that could be accessed via FOIA requests.  In Illinois, that may be a Class 3 Felony with loss of public office and benefits, and there's a three year statute of limitations ( 720 ILCS 5/32-8 http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/fulltext.asp?DocName=072000050K32-8 ).

I'll note FOIA requests on OPPL have produced no substantive communications between OPPL and ALA, none, but tons of advertising, almost as if OPPL has already instituted a policy of destroying public documents in violation of the law.  Indeed, the more we wait for OPPL to comply with FOIA requests to produce a recording of the ALA/OPPL webinar/training, the more concern there is that public records are being destroyed.  I wonder if the Attorney General has any power to seize computers and iPads before OPPL destroys any public records, any more public records, or evidence of illegality.

In another community, West Bend, WI, ALA quietly gave a $1000 grant to one of its acolytes and the only evidence discovered was via FOIA requests, and only in a single email from the acolyte herself bragging to the library ( http://westbend.pbworks.com/f/Hanrahan2Tyree051209.pdf ).  I bet the library didn't realize the import of the simple message.  In typical ALA fashion, ALA used that person too and library personnel to give training to other librarians on how to thwart, not help, patrons raising legitimate concerns ( http://www.oif.ala.org/oif/?p=383 ).

With pressure like this from the ALA to violate law, it is no wonder OPPL violates OMA with alacrity, including by singling me out, just as ALA singles me out.  And this email is before I was blocked from the December OPPL-BoT meeting:

---

From: Barbara Jones [mailto:bjones@ala.org]
Sent: Thursday, November 07, 2013 12:28 PM
To: Deborah Caldwell-Stone; Dee Brennan; leadership
Cc: Barbara Jones

Subject: RE: Possible workshops to address Orland Park situation 

Dear Dee, please see below.  Any date below is OK with us.  Here's how I envision it.  We can work together so this is something that works for you and your audience.  It needs to be what they need. 

First off is whether you have any way to limit attendance to RAILS members.  IF Dan Kleinman or some of our detractors attend, we will need to change our content.  We've dealt with this before, so if it is an open webinar, we just need to know that. 

Thanks for letting me know that ALA can have the content to use later on if we need to.  We want to repeat this for trustees.  And/or, this session can include trustees as well. 

IF it is closed, here is a draft of what I propose: 

  1.  20 minutes: I go over the timeline of what happened in Orland Park, with examples of press coverage, et al.  Mary Weimar may not want to participate.  On the other hand, she might!  I want to say right off that I think she is doing a fabulous job, so the idea is not to be negative about Orland Park.  We actually will show some of the things they did so well. 

  2.  30 minutes, plus 30 minutes Q & A:  Deborah lists the legal issues, at each point, and tells the audience what she and Orland Park's attorney advised. 

  3.  20 minutes, plus 10 minutes Q & A:  Macey Morales (PIO) or I list the public relations/press issues. 

  4.  20 minutes, plus 10 minutes Q & A:  Bob Doyle (or Kip) list the political issues to pay attention to.  For example, Kip alerted all the legislators who might get involved. 

  5.  20 minutes, plus 10 minutes Q & A;  Marci Merola or I review the advocacy issues, developing talking points, getting out in front of the situation. 

Times can be adjusted, of course.  This is 3 hours and maybe that is too much!  We will help with publicity if you want.  Thanks so much for this opportunity!  Barbara

---

That is a telling communication.  It is from the nation's leading facilitator of harm to women via unfiltered library computers ( http://safelibraries.blogspot.com/2013/03/DirtyDozenALA.html ).  OPPL-BoT undoubtedly saw that communication.  As terrific reporter Sharyl Attkisson tweeted, "You can often tell by the tone that something else is at play.  Why do they try to squelch debate and discussion of issues of public importance?"

You can often tell by the tone that something else is at play.Why do they try to squelch debate & discussion of issues of public importance?
— Sharyl Attkisson (@SharylAttkisson) December 10, 2013

Further new evidence of an intention to violate the OMA is that when OPPL director Mary Weimar initially told me it was technically impossible for me to attend a board meeting electronically, "The library is unable to accommodate your request," that was a lie.  It was a lie then, as I previously stated in my Request for Review, but new evidence shows it's a big lie, a big screen lie.  In reality, not only can OPPL communicate electronically, but it can do so in a big way, per this Chicago Tribune story from yesterday:

• "Pulitzer Prize Winner Julia Keller to Skype at Orland Park Public Library Book Discussion on May 22," by Orland Park Public Library, Chicago Tribune, 16 May 2014. ( http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/suburbs/orland_park_homer_glen/community/chi-ugc-article-pulitzer-prize-winner-julia-keller-to-skype-a-2014-05-16,0,3750064.story )

  Author and Pulitzer Prize winner Julia Keller will Skype with the Orland Park Public Library ... in the library's meeting room.
  
  With the assistance of the Internet, a large screen, and audio, Keller will discuss her most recent novel "Bitter River." ....
  
  The group will have the opportunity to ask Keller questions through Skype....

The next OPPL Board of Trustees [OPPL-BoT] meeting is Monday, May 19, 2014.  I will be on the list of speakers.  1) The library's previous claim that it is technically impossible for me to speak is false.  2) The library's expected claim that new policy specifically in place to prevent me from speaking is also false since that policy is void ab initio as it is part of the Lincoln's Birthday OPPL-BoT meeting that is likely in violation of the OMA.  3) ALA's diktat in an analogous situation that "IF Dan Kleinman ... attend[s], we will need to change our content," has no bearing on the requirements of the OMA and the law requiring OPPL to follow the law.  4) The library's previously removing me from its list of speakers at its recent December meeting as I raised in my original Request for Review is likely a violation of the OMA given the May 2, 2014 letter from the Attorney General's office captioned "RE: OMA Request for Review – 2014 PAC 27713 and 27771" that concluded the OPPL-BoT violated OMA "by imposing restrictions on public comment which were not authorized by the Board's established and recorded rules."

If I am not allowed to speak at the OPPL-BoT meeting Monday night, with or without "the assistance of the Internet, a large screen, and audio," it will likely be another unauthorized "restriction on public comment."  Further, it will be in the face of the Attorney General whose representative Steve Silverman warned in the opinion cited above, "This office cautions the Board to avoid restricting public comment on substantive bases that are not addressed by its established and recorded rules."

If the OPPL-BoT blocks my speaking again, it will likely be a violation of OMA, evident defiance of the Attorney General, and a Class C Misdemeanor.  The OPPL-BoT may be subject to arrest.  Another Illinois board was arrested for violating OMA by suppressing public comment:

• "Exclusive: Citizens Arrest Park District Board for Refusing Public Comment," by Mike Flynn, Breitbart, 16 May 2014. ( http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/05/16/Exclusive-Citizens-Arrest-Park-District-Board-for-Breaking-Law )

Civil litigation may follow:

• "Clark County Park District Facing Open Meetings Act Civil Suit…," by Jim Kraft, Illinois Leaks by Edgar County Watchdogs, 15 May 2014. ( http://edgarcountywatchdogs.com/2014/05/clark-county-park-district-facing-open-meetings-act-civil-suit/ )

Here is my original Request for Review and response that I have now supplemented with new evidence above:

• "Open Meetings Act Violations by the Board of Library Trustees of the Orland Park Public Library," by Dan Kleinman, SafeLibraries, 17 February 2014. ( http://safelibraries.blogspot.com/2014/02/OPPL.html )
• "Response re Orland Park Public Library Request for Review - PAC 27987 - Open Meetings Act," by Dan Kleinman, SafeLibraries, 27 March 2014. ( http://safelibraries.blogspot.com/2014/03/OMA.html )

I am copying OPPL on this submission of new evidence to be sure they know ahead of time that I should not be blocked from speaking at Monday's meeting.  Today, Friday May 17, I have asked the OPPL director to allow me to speak at Monday's OPPL-BoT meeting.  We'll see what happens.

Thank you for your consideration of this new evidence tending to show an intention by OPPL-BoT to violate the OMA law and perhaps an inducement by ALA to have OPPL break other law as well.  I sincerely hope the Board will begin to follow the law and obviate any possible arrests and civil litigation.  I hope I will be able to speak at Monday's meeting.

Sincerely,

Dan Kleinman
Library Watchdog at SafeLibraries
641 Shunpike Rd #123
Chatham, NJ 07928

CC:  Orland Park Public Library


NOTE ADDED 18 MAY 2014:

Post by Fans of Megan Fox.

Let's be clear we are talking about a public library that is allowing the viewing of child pornography, then it does not report the crime to the police and destroys computer evidence.  You see, ALA teaches that while child pornography is a crime, no librarian is in a position to judge what it is, only judges can do that.  Then ALA teaches libraries to delete the evidence so police cannot get it, and that's exactly what happened and happens in OPPL.  ALA orders libraries to delete public records, including those evidencing crimes such as child pornography, and many libraries follow its diktat despite laws designed to prevent such public record destruction.  ALA calls it "patron privacy" but no patron has the privacy to break the law and no library has the legal right to destroy public records.

Look at OPPL's "Incident Reports" and look how the police were not called for child pornography viewing:

Multiple reports of child porn viewing in library, then police not called.
Source: "Library Crisis Communications Workshop Presentation Recreation"

Source of the above graphic showing detailed reports of child pornography viewing is one of the two patrons who raised this issue well over half a year back–yes the library still makes child porn available.  Kevin DuJan produced the above graphic based on actual responses to FOIA requests by OPPL.  There was a "hatefest" consisting of various training designed to advise librarians how to thwart the law, the same training/webinar I mentioned in the original post above.  Mr. DuJan is being stonewalled in requesting documents and recordings to which the public is entitled, including this training/webinar, so he put together a document that essentially contains the training the librarians got, based on what's been FOIA'd so far.  To see his entire Library Crisis Communications Workshop Presentation Recreation, go to: http://tinyurl.com/ALAHateFest.


NOTE ADDED 22 MAY 2014:

I fixed an oops, so now it correctly references West Bend, WI.

URL of this page:  safelibraries.blogspot.com/2014/05/NewEvidence.html

URL of ALA Hatefest:  tinyurl.com/ALAHateFest

On Twitter:  @ECWDogs @HillBuzz @ILAttyGeneral @IntolerantFox @Istook @Flynn1776 @OIF @OrlandPkLibrary @SharylAttkisson @VillageOrlandPk

Follow @SafeLibraries

Porn and Sex Abuse In Our Public Libraries: Public Library Porn Harms Children, Patrons, Librarians, and Porn Industry Actors

Ladies and gentleman, welcome to this evening's webinar entitled, "Porn and Sex Abuse In Our Public Libraries: Public Library Porn Harms Children, Patrons, Librarians, and Porn Industry Actors."  It is being presented by Morality In Media as part of its series on Pornography Harms and its new Safe Library Project.

Your tour guide this evening is me, Dan Kleinman, from an independent organization called SafeLibraries, and it is easy to follow me on Twitter @SafeLibraries or email SafeLibraries@gmail.com.

Here is the actual nationwide broadcast; after introductory meandering, the speech begins at the 7:15 mark:

Watch live streaming video from pornographyharms at livestream.com. Speech starts @ 7:15 mark.

Down To The Wire

I have been involved with public library and public school library issues for about a decade.  I am grateful to have been asked to be your guide on this webinar.  After all these years, it is down to the wire for me to organize what I have learned and present it to you so you can learn about the issues and act within your own communities, if you wish.

Hopefully you will learn that porn and sex abuse in our public libraries exists in the first place, what are the issues involved, then what can be done to restore community standards to your own public libraries.  I can't be in 500 places at once.  I need you to act in your own communities to protect your own fellow citizens and thereby your own families.

Burned

I got started learning about these issues when my own family got burned by the effects of the policies of the American Library Association, hereafter called the ALA.  You see, I had heard Dr. Laura say the ALA was pushing inappropriate material on children.  Ridiculous.  No way.  Then one day my child brought home a book to read from her fourth day in kindergarten.  I said this is it.  I have reached the top.  A house in the country.  A beautiful wife and child.  And now I have to read to my child like my mommy and daddy read to me.

Cover of Mangaboom

As I began to read I found I had to change the wording because it was entirely inappropriate.  Skinny dipping on a blind date with three guys.  Ohh la la, she said in a lusty voice.  And so on.  For the curious, the book is called Mangaboom.

I brought it to the principal's attention.  After a four day review, she informed me the book was twice as bad as what I reported and that it would be removed from the library.  I asked why the book was given to my child.  Because it was on an ALA list of books approved for kindergartners and the librarian was an ALA member.

Dr. Laura was right!

So I investigated my local public library and found it had a page called "Fun Sites for Kids and Teens."  On that page was an ALA-recommended web site about bestiality and how to have a better orgasm by strangling yourself, and so on.  The library director agreed the link was inappropriate and agreed to remove it, but it was never removed.

I went to the library board meeting and was told citizens are not sophisticated enough to make decisions—that why libraries have boards.  So I started a web site to get people in the town organized.  I suppose I'm a community organizer.  Anyway, that led to my being noticed nationally.

Mr. Soul—Heart of Gold

Mark Decker

Mark Decker of Oak Lawn, IL, contacted me about his public library making Playboy magazine available to children.  Children simply have to ask for a page range and it will be photocopied for them.  "Periodicals Desk staff will make a copy of a text article from Playboy for patrons under the age of 18 who have a specific citation for the article."

He was like Mr. Soul.  He had a heart of gold and thought it was wrong for children to have access to Playboy.  Imagine that.  The nerve of him.

Together, Mark and I created SafeLibraries.  He thought up the name.  Unfortunately, Mark died in a terrible car accident.  More here: "Man Who Fought Pornography in Oak Lawn Dies," by William Lee, Daily Southtown, 14 June 2007.  I continue working SafeLibraries in Mark's honor so that his zeal for protecting children will continue on.

Broken Arrow

Playboy cover

Mark Decker asked his local library to stop purchasing Playboy or otherwise stop making it available to children.

He was shot down by the library.  No, it would make no changes.  From the magazine pictured at right, read: "Check Us Out," by The Playboy Forum, Playboy Magazine, Nov 2005.

But he picked up that broken arrow and kept pushing.

Expecting to Fly

He put out notice in the local paper about the library's policy and asked for signed petitions.  He got hundreds.  Expecting to fly, he presented them to the library.

Again, the library would make no changes.

Sugar Mountain

Now he had a hill to climb.  Did that stop him?  No.  At a town summer fair, an independent pollster determined the townsfolk agreed that the Playboy subscription should be stopped and children should not access Playboy.  That was sweet, like being atop a sugar mountain.  Surely the library would do as its patrons wanted.

No.  The library refused to budge.

Exactly who was in charge of this library that it refused to comply with the wishes of its own patrons?  Are you seeing the case I am slowly building here?  I am in the middle of showing you the total control the ALA has over a public library.  You will hear the ALA say again and again that it has no such control.  So I'm taking you step by step through this so you can see through such misinformation.  Let's keep going.

I Am A Child

Mark Decker never lost sight of the goal.  Children are innocent, like in the Neil Young song, "I Am a Child" (hear excerpt).  Mark sought to protect that innocence, and he saw now that the library was apparently defying the will of the community.  So he kept pushing.

The Loner

It appeared to be a tactic of the library to make Mark appear like a loner, ridiculing him for wanted to force his will on the library, all the while the library was forcing its will on the community.  Mark was no loner.

His next move was to ask the government of the Village of Oak Lawn to take a stand.  It did.  It stood with Mark.  It stood with its citizens.  It unanimously requested the library drop its subscription to Playboy.

Can you believe?  The library refused.  See for yourself:

Did you see that?  The library will continue to allow children access to Playboy.  Children!

Heck, the library even advertised its Playboy subscription, but lied as to an age restriction, which is really unlimited.  See: "Check It Out; Newsletter of the Oak Lawn Public Library," Oak Lawn Public Library, 19:5, September/October 2005, bottom of page 2.

The Old Laughing Lady

The library director, James B. Casey, was himself a member of the ALA Council, a significant group within the ALA.  He got ALA top brass involved in the matter, including the old laughing lady, Judith Krug.  (Sorry, that's not an accurate description of her, but it is in keeping with the musical theme of consecutive song titles from a Neil Young album.)   Judith Krug was the Illinois state ACLU leader who joined the ALA, created the so-called "Office for Intellectual Freedom" and the "Freedom to Read Foundation," then single handedly changed how librarians would approach children.  No longer would librarians keep children from inappropriate material.  Now it is anything goes for children in public libraries and school libraries, and it is a direct result of the ACLU leader's changes within the ALA.  Now you know.

Anyway, the old laughing lady was laughing at Mark Decker and the entire Village of Oak Lawn.  Could you believe some unsophisticated local yokels would try to stop a Playboy subscription in their own public library?  As she put it:

"I get very concerned when we start hearing people who want to convert this country into a safe place for children," she said.  "I am adult.  I want available what I need to see."

But David Smith, senior policy analyst with the Illinois Family Institute, a conservative advocacy group based in Glen Ellyn, said Playboy is degrading to both men and women and that it has no place in a publicly funded library.

"It is not productive," he said.  "Why shouldn't taxpayers like Mark Decker have a say in what goes on the shelves?"

Source:  "Oak Lawn Library Vows to Keep Playboy on Shelf," by Jo Napolitano, Chicago Tribune, 23 June 2005 (alternate URL).

And with that, the ALA forced its will on the Village of Oak Lawn.  To this day Playboy remains available to children, to the best of my knowledge.  To this day, when the ALA feigns it has no influence over local communities, I'll know otherwise, and so will you.

To sum up, the library refused to act even after 1) a citizen complained, 2) a citizen presented hundreds of signatures, 3) a town survey showed most people wanted to stop the Playboy subscription, and 4) the village government unanimously requested the subscription be stopped.  No, the library was forced to do as the ALA demanded, with the ALA's top leader getting directly involved to sink the deal.

And it is amazing the library argued it cannot "be imposing our own personal tastes upon ... the taxpaying public" while imposing the ALA's personal tastes over the entire taxpaying public in the Village of Oak Lawn.  It is a breathtaking example of the double standards that basically define how the ALA operates on many issues too numerous to raise here.

Like a Hurricane

The Oak Lawn Public Library was so successful in defeating its own community that it provided guidance to another community on how to defeat the local population there.  Like a hurricane, the disaster moved from Oak Lawn to St. Louis.  Oak Lawn library director Jim Casey mocked the local community and SafeLibraries as "censors," for not wanting children to access Playboy magazine!  See: "Who's Controlling County Libraries: Taxpayers or the ALA? New Teen Sections at County Libraries Stocked with Sexually Explicit Materials," by Dan Kleinman, St. Louis MetroVoice, 21 August 2008.  The ALA itself calls anyone who complains about anything a censor.  You'll be called a censor.  Don't let it bother you—it's not true.

You have to know when the ALA or its acolytes are controlling your own community so you can stop it.

Why didn't the Mayor sue the library to remove Playboy after it refused the government's request, you might ask?  He was afraid of the ACLU drain on village resources.  Yes, the very same ACLU that used Judith Krug to create the very policy that forces inappropriate material on communities nationwide.  See how it works?  This might help:

Helpless

But people like us are not helpless.  Hence SafeLibraries was born.  Hence you have come here to listen today about how public library porn harms children, patrons, librarians, and porn industry actors.  With this new knowledge, all backed up with reliable sources, you too can be aware of how ACLU engendered ALA policy is entrenched in your communities and what you can do about it.

Let's get started.

Decade

Before we get started, I hope you enjoyed my musical introduction with titles from Neil Young's Decade to warm things up.  "Ain't it funny how you feel when you're findin' out it's real."  It's real alright.

Yes, I still buy Neil Young albums.  I'm listening to Decade while writing this speech.  Anyone here like Neil Young too?

Public Library Porn Harms

Public library pornography harms a lot of people.  Some harm is direct.  Some is indirect.  Some harm isn't even to anyone in the library.  Some harm is nearly harmless.  Some remains forever.  Some harm is done after the fact, like when libraries coverup the harm.  Some harm occurs and libraries don't even know.  Some harm occurs only after you get home.

To help open your eyes to the possibilities of how pornography harms, I will categorize and list numerous instances.  Later I will specify why it happens and who or what is at fault.  That way you can be best informed so that you are not victimized in the first place or so you know how to react afterwards.

First Off, Most Library Visits Will Be Perfectly Safe

Let me say here and now that the vast majority of your library visits will be the positive ones we all expect them to be.  The chances of something untoward happening are slim.  But over time, something might happen, and you want to be prepared and head it off at the pass or minimize the effect.  So far as I know, no other such advice exists, so please pay attention.  And this speech will be available on the SafeLibraries blog so you can look at it again and again as the need arises.

Here we go.

Porn-Viewing Hooligans Beat Up Old Lady

Teenagers who viewed pornography on the Internet computers in a public library went on to viciously attack an old lady—it even made the cover—there she is on the ground:

"An elderly woman suffered a broken arm and jaw after she was thrown to the ground in a daytime mugging by three teen thugs yesterday.  ....  'They're just animals,' said one outraged cop.  'Put a big zoo around the city.'  ....  'People go to church for a funeral and there's gunshots, they go to the library and they're mugged,' Nunziata said.  'Where can you be safe?'  'It's disgusting,' she said.  'It just makes me sick.'  ....   

Police said the elderly victim had just left the Mount Dennis library branch at about the same time the three teens had also left after surfing porn sites on the library computers.  Police said staff had been keeping on eye on them because of what they were looking at, and the trio left.  ....  She described the trio as being around 14 and 15 years old." 

Source: 'Animal' Teens Attack Woman, 84; Victim Suffers Broken Jaw, Arm in Purse-Snatching Outside West-End Library, by Rob Lamberti and Rob Granatstein, Toronto Sun, 8 December 2005.

Public Library Porn Harms Children

Public library porn harms children.  Sometimes people do not even realize it.  Consider the case of a child molested in a public library bathroom and no one knew that it was the result of porn viewing!  I was the person who exposed the truth.  As a result of my work, the Iowa state legislature attempted to pass state library computer filtering legislation.  It would not have happened but for my involvement in that community.

Turns out the Des Moines Public Library refused to filter the Internet because it chose to follow the ALA instead of local interests.  As a result, a homeless sex offender molested a toddler in the restroom.  He was a regular viewer of porn on the computer closest to the bathroom where the toddler's life was changed forever, courtesy of the ALA indirectly enabling the sex offender.  And porn doesn't harm?  And the ALA is not partly responsible?

I'm not bragging.  The point is to show you there are things you can do to make a big difference.  You can do this.  For example, you can pick up a telephone and tell a reporter where you think he may have missed something.  You just have to be aware, and I'm helping you to become aware right now.  To learn more about my involvement in that matter, see "Media-Wake Up to Library Crime Source."

For other examples of children harmed by porn in public libraries, allow me to list some of my past writings on the topic, than come back to this page and view the information whenever you like:

• "432 Patrons Ejected from Seattle Libraries in First Four Months of 2009; Librarians 'Assaulted, Threatened and Spit Upon'"
• "ALA Ruse Keeping Porn Widely Available and Media Inaccuracies Force Council Bluffs, Iowa, Citizens to Endure Public Library Porn"
• "ALA Whitewashes Rape and Blames Child; Removes Discussion of ALA's Possible Culpability for Rape"
• "Another Library Rape Case. How is the ALA Not Partly Responsible? Investigations are Needed."
• "Another Rape in Another Library Bathroom: Solon, OH"
• "Boy Sexually Assaulted in Library Bathroom by Child P0rn Viewer"
• "Chatting Up Child Victims in Montpelier, VT, Courtesy of ALA Policy Controlling Yet Another Community's Public Library; Parole Board Should Consider Library Complicity"
• "Child Molester is Library Board Member Who Mocked Parents Complaining About Internet P-rn in Gwinnett County Public Library"
• "Child Porn Arrest in London Public Library That Had Internet Filters But Quietly Removed Them After Empty Legal Threats"
• "Child Porn Trafficking in Public Libraries; Libraries Actively Thwart Child Porn Investigations"
• "Child Raped in Library Bathroom Again"
• "Flavored Condoms for Kids in Libraries"
• "Is the ALA Harmful to Minors?"
• "Kansas City Library Riddled with Crime: No Internet Filters is Why, and Acceptable Use Policies Do Not Work"
• "Keeping R-Rated Films from Children is Censorship, According to the ALA and the Fountaindale Public Library That Blindly Follows the ALA"
• "Librarians Library Porn Problem Detailed by the Library Journal's Annoyed Librarian"
• "Libraries Allowing Porn Are Wrong; Donna Rice Hughes of Enough Is Enough Explains Why"
• "Library Leaves Pedophile Free to Molest Other Children; King County Library System Defrauds Taxpayers of $1,158,253 from CIPA Program; Media Investigation Needed"
• "Library Okays Hard Core for Kids; Parents Horrified Into Action in Oak Park IL While ALA Enjoys Midwinter Meeting 2011 in San Diego"
• "Library Pron Causes Suicidal Thoughts; Testimony Supports Idaho Library Filtering Legislation"
• "Library Takeover Reveals Hidden Crime; Former Covina Public Library Director Roger Possner Waves Patron Policy as Evidence Crimes Never Occurred; Library Acceptable Use Policies Do Not Work"
• "Molested Children in Los Angeles Libraries May Be Direct Result of Governmental Malfeasance; Los Angeles Times Interview of SafeLibraries Reveals Government Was Warned Against Employing Privacy Screens"
• "One Child Assaulted Per Month in Libraries Without Internet Filters; Suit Should Be Brought Against the American Library Association"
• "Porn for Children Says Betty Long, Roswell Public Library Director"
• "Sex Monster Looks for 'Easy Targets' in Library"
• "Tacoma Library Crime Rampant; Library Director Once Chased Pedophile Out of the Library and Across a Parking Lot While Wearing Her High Heels; Library Itself Partly to Blame and May Be Committing Fraud"
• "Teen Library Volunteer Raped in Library Bathroom"
• "The Sound of Silence: Another Rape in Another Library Bathroom, This Time in Enid, OK, and the Library is Mum"
• "Will Manley Outs Library Profession as the Only One in the World That Wants Children to Have Access to Pornography; Annoyed Librarian Says Some Librarians Sound Like Smut Peddlars"

Phew!  That was a long list, wasn't it!  Did I say something previously about library crime not being too frequent?

Think This Can't Happen to You?

Think this can't happen to you and your family in your own community library?  Think again.  This is from that case I uncovered in Des Moines, IA:

Justin Newman [has ...] seen news accounts of grown men arrested on charges that they preyed on children in municipal libraries.  ....  "You don't want to be too fearful," said Des Moines Police Sgt. Barry Arnold.  "But, doggone it, it's pretty bad when it happens in your own backyard."  ....   

Last week, Des Moines police charged registered sex offender [JE] Jr. with sexually assaulting a 20-month-old girl in a restroom at the downtown public library.  ....   

Then Monday, on the same day Des Moines city leaders voted to expand a 2,000-foot boundary law and eliminate the few remaining places where child molesters can live legally, another man was arrested for allegedly assaulting a pre-teen girl at an Ames library [- the man], a library regular, inappropriately touched the girl after he asked whether she would like to see a picture in a book.  ....   

"People think, 'It's Iowa.  It doesn't happen here,'" Lien said as he watched his 2-year-old grandson play on a slide.  "I don't think that makes any difference." 

Source:  "Child Predator Reports Scare Parents; Take a Deep Breath, Keep a Watchful Eye, Officials Say," by [unknown to me], The Des Moines Register, 11 October 2005.

Public Library Porn Harms Students

Library porn harms students too.  Students at Utah Valley University [formerly UVSC] appear to be awash in pornography in their school library.  And notice how illegality and acceptable use policies seem to make no difference, whereas Internet filters would have prevented the problem in the first place:

On average, the UVSC library staff catches at least one person a week viewing pornographic materials on the library computers, and the number of instances of people being caught rises as finals approach.  Twenty-five percent of total search engine requests are porn-related.  The top three searches being: sex, mp3 and hotmail, according to Healthmind.com.

All UVSC computer labs follow state law, which says: "Public Displays: Utah law (76-10-1228) prohibits public display (at any establishment frequented by minors, or where the minors are invited as a part of the general public, i.e. UVSC), any motion picture, or any still picture that consists of nude or partially denuded figures posed or presented in a manner to provoke or arouse lust or passion."  It is illegal to view pornography on UVSC campus.

All UVSC public computers are marked with a warning stating: "This computer may be monitored for inappropriate use," and computer lab employees have access to monitor what is being viewed on each computer in the facility.

But how often do staff members check it?  One Library employee said they don't check what the students are doing very often.  Usually they wait for someone to approach them with a complaint about another person using the computer to look at porn before they will actually check student computer activity.

The UVSC Library policy also states that persons caught looking at pornography for the first time will receive a warning.  If a repeat offender is caught, library staff is instructed to contact the UVSC Police Department immediately.

Source:  "Can't Look Away; Therapist Speaks on the Damage a Pornography Addiction Can Cause," by Ashley Robertson, NetXNews (Utah Valley State College), 12 March 2006.

Not all students are silent on the issue.  Get a gander at this:

• "Twin Students of Different Mothers Want Internet Filters"
• "Lustful: Self Love; The Curious Incident of the Hayden Library Masturbator," by Sam Friedman, ASU Web Devil, 9 March 2006.
• "No Filters Required," by Dan Linsalata, The Dartmouth, 24 August 2004.

And here's a graphic of students mocking a guy masturbating in a school library:

Public Library Porn Harms Patrons

Oh please.  There must be example after example of patrons harmed by porn in public libraries.  But this story is downright silly—porn viewing caused a fist fight in the Brooklyn Public Library, a library that allows unfettered porn viewing:  "Porn Fist Fight in Library; The Brooklyn Public Library May Be At Fault, Perhaps the ALA As Well."

But I have a scarier story, one that I know but have not yet published.  You see, people contact me when they have trouble in the library and no one will help them.  So what I am about to tell you is literally breaking news, breaking right here and right now.

In the Lincoln, NE, public library, a woman and her boy were in the children's section of the library when the mom saw a man viewing child porn on one of the computers in the children's section.  When she complained to him, he assaulted her, yelling at her an inch from her face and threatening her, frightening her and her child.  When she sought assistance from the library, it refused to act.  The police also refused to act, saying they already had experience with that library intentionally destroying computer records so they already knew there was nothing they could do.  Both the library's refusal to act and the library's destroying records are the result of ALA policy.  

So the mom and her son got the double whammy from the ALA that simple filters would have prevented.  To this day her son will duck down in the car each time they drive past the library.  Sad, isn't it?

Public Library Porn Harms Librarians

Would you believe porn harms librarians and library employees as well?  Worse, to my best recollection, I have never, ever seen the ALA come to the aid of a single one of these librarians.  Not one.  Not once.  Never.

Sometimes not even that very library's management will help.  Don't like getting sexually harassed?  Then leave!  Think I'm making that up?  I am not.  Look what library management told one harassed library employee:

The public library in Birmingham, AL, is a perfect example, and it occurred just last week—and two years ago!  The above picture is from that case.  Two separate library employees have been harassed so badly by patrons fueled up on unfiltered pornography that the employees had to bring suit and file EEOC complaints for sexual harassment on the job.  After the first incident two years ago, the library did absolutely nothing to stop it from happening again.  "If you don't like it leave."  See "Library Employee Harassment Continues As Second Suit for Unabated Porn is Filed in Birmingham Alabama."

Examples of harassment include that "patrons regularly engage in offensive sexual conduct such as masturbation in the presence of children" and that "management has failed to address the matter."

How about this—is this harassment?  Is this sex abuse?  "[S]ome patrons [were] openly viewing pornography on computers, groping her and performing lewd acts in front of staff or other patrons, including children."  Speak out please, how many of you have been groped on the job as a result of porn, then had your manager tell you to get out if you don't like it?

And again, the ALA never assists such people.  Contrast that with how the ALA awards other librarians who allow children to read books having explicit sexual activity.  Those are the kinds of librarians the ALA supports.  Right, Dee Venuto of Rancocas Valley Regional High School, Mt. Laurel, NJ?  See "School Media Specialist Passes Sexual Content Review to Students; Dee Venuto Says It Is Discrimination to Keep Children From Material Including Lengthy, Vivid Descriptions of a Ménage a Trois."

Here are more stories of librarians harmed by library policy allowing porn:

• "432 Patrons Ejected from Seattle Libraries in First Four Months of 2009; Librarians 'Assaulted, Threatened and Spit Upon'"
• "Adamson v. Minneapolis Public Library"
• "Bums are Ground Zero in Libraries - Librarianship is a Hazardous Occupation"
• "Librarians Fired for Not Pornifying Child"
• "Librarian May Lose Job for Stopping Child from Viewing Porn in Salinas Public Library"
• "Library Director Admits Keeping Police in the Dark in Gilbert, Arizona; American Library Association Guidance Not To Inform Police May Be the Reason"
• "Library Hostile Environment Lawsuits in St Cloud, MN, and Birmingham, AL, for Title VII Sexual Harassment; Wilson v. Birmingham Public Library Foundation; ALA May Be At Fault and Should Be Sued"
• "Library Employee Harassment Continues As Second Suit for Unabated Porn is Filed in Birmingham Alabama"
• "Tacoma Library Crime Rampant; Library Director Once Chased Pedophile Out of the Library and Across a Parking Lot While Wearing Her High Heels; Library Itself Partly to Blame and May Be Committing Fraud"

Public Library Porn Harms Porn Industry Actors

Some libraries are so concerned about the rights of patrons to view porn that they will even cover up instances of child pornography viewing.  See, for example:

• "Libraries Aid and Abet Pedophiles, Destroy Evidence, Retaliate Against Whistle Blowers, Claim Dubious Privacy and Free Speech Rights; ALA At Fault"
• "Library Obstructs Child Porn Investigation by State Police in Montrose, NY; Claims Stonewalling is Not Stonewalling"
• "Whistleblower Confirms Library Cover-Up of Child Pornography and Confirms USA PATRIOT Act Used as Excuse"

Now while libraries bend over backwards to defend the claimed right to view porn in a public library, even though there is no such right according to US v. ALA, while libraries are so sensitive about peoples rights, they could care less about the rights of the porn actors.

That's right, porn actors have rights too.  Like the right not to be killed or abused or forced to be drugged and have sex with animals.  See the Pink Cross Foundation.

Do the librarians who push porn in their own libraries by ignoring the law and their communities care?  How about those who cover up for child pornography?  Do these rights-sensitive people care one iota about these porn actors?  Obviously not.

You need to see this sad video to get the picture of porn victims, men and women, who the rights-sensitive librarians could care less about when they allow porn viewing in the public library despite its being legal to exclude:

What You Can Do About Your Library Allowing Porn

There are a number of things you can do about your library allowing porn.  I have helped you through the first step, and that is becoming aware there may be a problem in the first place.  Once you become aware, once you learn to recognize the signs that your library is no longer under your community's local control, once you realize the harm done to so many by those defying the law to promote a political agenda, then you'll be in a position to start doing something to bring the library into compliance with local standards and local control.

Stay Informed

If you enjoyed this webinar by SafeLibraries, if you would like to see another on exactly what can be done to restore local control to your public library, then please thank Safe Library Project for having me speak today and ask them to invite me back for another webinar on steps needed to clean up local libraries.

What a pleasure it has been speaking with you today.  To keep up with the latest information, please subscribe to our blogs (SafeLibraries, Safe Library Project) and follow our Twitter feeds (@SafeLibraries, @Porn_Harms).  Information is power.

This webinar is available for replay online and embedded above.  The URL for this SafeLibraries blog post page is http://safelibraries.blogspot.com/2011/07/porn-and-sex-abuse-in-our-public.html.

Questions?

Does anyone have any questions?

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Goodnight, everyone, thank you all for attending, and thank you, Safe Library Project.

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