Censorship in Libraries -Reply

[Dan Lester]

>>> Judy Myers <jm at UH.EDU> 02/28/97 10:08am >>>
Parents can then decide if it is o.k. to leave a child there to
explore.
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Great theory.  But in practice most kids are there alone....at
least if they're over about eight.  Some of our public library
colleagues will undoubtedly chime in on the PL being used
as a daycare center, a place for latchkey kids to stop off for a
few hours on the way home, etc.  It just isn't like it was when
I was a kid in the 40s and 50s, or when many of you were
kids in later decades.  Is it sad?  Yeah.  Can I fix it myself,
no matter how much I rail about it?  Nope.  
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However, several options are possible, such as providing
adults (and children with parental permission) with passwords
to bypass a censoring program, designating certain terminals
for children, etc.  None of these solutions will keep children
completely protected, and I think most parents and
governments can live with that.  
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I wish it were so simple.  I think half the parents want the
protection and half don't give a damn.  And the first time a
"trusted kid" shows another one some "dirty stuff" (whatever
that may be to the parent), the password system will end as
soon as it hits the front page of the paper.  My boss (our
Dean of Libraries) always reminds us we NEVER want to be
on the front page of the paper.  There are only three ways
you do that....commit a significant felony, die in a horrible
accident, or screw up on the job.
==========================
And I believe that libraries can affirm childhood as wall as
broad access to information.
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Again,  I learned that in library school....and wish it were still
true today.  I really do believe most of the world has changed
that much since I learned these things in a now-gone library
school 30 years ago, and it is not JUST that I'm old or
cynical.

cheers

cyclops, keeping his ears open on all these


Dan Lester, Network Information Coordinator
Boise State University Library, Boise, Idaho, 83725 USA
voice: 208-385-1235   fax:  208-385-1394
dlester at bsu.idbsu.edu     OR    alileste at idbsu.idbsu.edu
Cyclops' Internet Toolbox:    http://cyclops.idbsu.edu
"How can one fool make another wise?"   Kansas, 1979.