Black pages

[Joe Schallan]

>On Thu, 8 Feb 1996, Joe Schallan wrote:
>> Beyond these considerations, I do not feel that it is my role to use
>> pages that I developed with taxpayer money to grind my own
>> particular political ax.  For all I know, the majority of the taxpayers
>
And Carlos McEvilly replied:

>I thought that librarians had a credo that they learn
>in library school that says something to the effect 
>that part of the profession is upholding free access
>to information... am I wrong?  I thought it would
>have been your professional axe to grind, not (just)
>a personal one.  Since I'm not a librarian I'm curious
>to find out if I've been misinformed.  Thanks.

Carlos,

Thanks for hitting on what I think is the hard part of all this
uproar.  Personally and professionally, I am opposed to
censorship.  It is a slippery slope and you don't want to
start down it.  I think web access ought to be wide open,
with the responsibility for use placed with the user.

But as a city employee I also took a pledge not to
politicize anything I do in my role as a public servant.
The opposition to the Exon provision is high-minded
and worthy of support, but no matter how worthy, it
is still a political matter.

If library patrons ask me for my views on censorship,
I will tell them, and I will note that those views are my
own but are widely shared within the profession.  But
my web site is considered an official communication
with citizens by both my director and my city administration. 
It must remain apolitical.

I think it is fine for .com and .org and .edu sites (where
the "orgs" and the "edus" are private ones) to make
any statement they wish.

Thanks for your comments.

Joe

PS.  I think there is a tendency in our profession, which seems
dominated by political liberals, to act as though it knows
what's better for the citizens it serves than they do.
That attitude invites interference in the library's mission, as
the recent controversy involving a group called Family
Friendly Libraries shows.  We need to simultaneously uphold
freedom of thought and be respectful of citizens' concerns.
No one said it would always be easy.


 
====================================================
Joe Schallan, MLS                                 jschall at glenpub.lib.az.us
Reference Librarian and Webmaster
Glendale (Arizona) Public Library
http://www.maricopa.gov/glendale/localgov/library/library.htm