Censorship absolutism: A contrarian position

[Burt, David]

Joe Schallan wrote:
>Absolutism about censorship is a position we cannot defend;
>fighting for raw, unfiltered Internet access in public libraries
>is a war we cannot, and possibly should not want to, win.

I have to agree.  Every week I hear about more and more public libraries
which either are or are considering implementing filtering.  Filtering
is now fast on its way to becoming a standard policy option in public
libraries for dealing with the pornography problem.

What evidence I've seen suggests that most of our patrons think we are
out of our minds to allow children to access hard-core porn in libraries
with their tax dollars.  We can't possibly win this one.  The harder we
try, the worse we will look.  And in the end, we will lose.

Taking a no-compromise stand on this issue has the potential to
"NRA-ize" the American Library Association in the perceptions of the
average American, meaning that ALA will end up being perceived as
extremist and very out-of-touch because of its unwillingness to
compromise.

Therefore, I think it's time for the focus of ALA to shift from absolute
opposition to filters to insuring that filters do the best job they can
of meeting the needs of librarians.


          ***********************************************************
          David Burt, Information Technology Librarian 
          The Lake Oswego Public Library 
          706 Fourth Street, Lake Oswego, OR 97034
          URL:          http://www.ci.oswego.or.us/library/library.htm
          Phone:     (503) 635-0392 
          Fax:           (503) 635-4171 
          E-mail:      dburt at ci.oswego.or.us