FW: Staten Island Porn on the Internet, Part II

[Dspp at aol.com]

What an article! Where to begin is a difficult task. I''ll start by stating
that the library at which I work, Lakewood (OH) Public Library, has allocated
staff to monitor the computer rooms at each of our branches. I also add that
the opinions expressed here are my own.

******************************************************************************
********************
In a message dated 97-03-04 17:11:47 EST, DBurt at ci.oswego.or.us (Burt, David)
writes:
 
 "OUR LIBERTINE LIBRARIES"
 Editorial, Staten Island Advance, 2/10/97
 
> If you find your 13-year-old using the public library more and more
> these days, maybe you had better find out why.  It might not be for
> educational purposes -- or at least not for the education you had in
> mind.
...
>First of all, the reason many of these kids are using library PCs is
>precisely because they know can call up pornographic pictures without
>adults, even those working in the library, stopping their quest.
>Students are generally encouraged to learn to use the library alone for
>academic purposes.

Who decides what is or isn't educational? Shall we remove the romantic novels
from our shelves? Goosebumps? Hardy Boys? Poe? The greater question is
whether the material read in a library book or accessed through the Internet
need be educational. The latter suggestion in the above quotation is quite
interesting. I was under the impression that many people encourage children
to use the library because it just might be a pleasurable experience. Some
people actually like to read. Imagine that. 
I have my own ideas of what material I would like to see the patrons (both
child and adult) browse on the Internet, but who am I to say what they should
read/browse? Perhaps we should make it mandatory that each patron spend half
of their alloted computer time at a site that we deem to be educational and
only check out books certified by the chair of an English department at a
nearby college. "Put down Chesapeke, Mr. Smith. You have had more than your
fair share of Michener."

As for the pornography issue, we do not permit our patrons to view sexually
explicit material because of proximity; other patrons are simply not in a
position to avoid the material. In this context, the right of unfettered
access to materials ends when the right of another person to avoid that
material is trampled. 

D.S.P. Popeck