One Librarian's Story By Heidi Borton

[CMUNSON]

     Is this a joke like the thing that was just sent to the ALA 
     Intellectual Freedom list? I think somebody is having fun at my 
     expense.
     
     I love some good flame bait on a Monday morning.
     
     Chuck0


______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: One Librarian's Story By Heidi Borton
Author:  Filtering Facts <burt at northwest.com> at Internet
Date:    7/12/98 11:43 PM


This is a true story by a librarian who resigned after 10 years at the King 
County (Wash.) Library rather than carry out the library policy of providing 
pornography to children:
     
One Librarian's Story By Heidi Borton 
http://www.filteringfacts.org/borton.htm
     
 I didn't intend to become an activist. Or to resign from a position that I
found to be both intellectually and emotionally satisfying. But after almost 
ten years as a librarian in a large library system, I recently resigned. The 
reason for this decision: I could not in good conscience support an "equal 
and open access" Internet policy. What this policy means in fact and 
practice is that librarians must sit silently by while any and all library 
users access pornography and other information of a defamatory nature which 
materials selection policy would disallow as a valid use of materials 
budget. The conventional wisdom is that the brave new world of the Internet 
is an uncontrollable medium, therefore we have no possibility of controlling 
what is accessed once we provide access. Filters, admittedly an imperfect 
solution, are dismissed as unworkable, and in fact a whole new apologetic of 
reasons for providing unrestricted access to the Internet has developed 
amongst library leaders and is being touted as the position of authority in 
library periodicals. I am glad that David Burt and a few library systems 
have braved intimidation and threatened lawsuits by the ACLU in order to at 
least attempt some measures that bring a sense of sane responsibility to 
this issue.
     
 A year and a half before I resigned I asked our Library Board to consider
the ramifications, both legal and ethical, to providing unrestricted 
Internet access to all ages. Subsequently the system decided to install the 
Bess filter on our children's terminals. In fact, this was a good move; at 
least then when the newspapers reported on the issue they could laud the 
fact that we cared about children (though they never saw the kids accessing 
porn at adult terminals). Some librarians protested even this move. Sad as 
it may seem there are those who think there is nothing wrong with 
pornography being viewed by children, young adults, or adults. Isn't it 
strange how we always talk about the power of information to change lives, 
and then discount that viewing defaming and demeaning words, pictures and 
sound can have any significant influence on someone's behavior? 
     
 The precipitating incident leading to my resignation came in November 1997.
It was a usual Saturday; we were busy and a little short-staffed. A phone 
call came in and was referred to me by one of our library assistants. The 
caller identified himself as a fourteen-year-old. He wanted to know if the 
library allowed him to access pornography (his term) on our library 
computers. At that point I knew I had a choice. I could either "hide" the 
truth or tell him the truth. I chose to tell him what the library policy 
was: that he could access whatever he wanted to, provided it wasn't illegal 
child pornography. He then replied that he just wanted to see pictures of 
"naked women". He also went on to ask a very logical if shocking question: 
If the library allowed him to view these porn Internet sites why didn't the 
library also subscribe to certain hard-core magazines? At that point I told 
him that he would have to speak to the library manager who would be in on 
Monday.
     
On Monday I spoke with the manager and with the head of the library system, 
confirming that I had stated library policy correctly. I was told that I 
had. Immediately I realized that I could never violate my own sense of 
morality in this way again. Whatever library policy was, it was wrong to 
give a fourteen-year-old (or for that matter a forty-year-old) access to 
smut in a publicly funded and supported institution.
     
 I hope that my story will encourage other librarians who feel the same way
as I do to speak up and not be intimidated. I hope and pray that more sense 
of responsibility will be shown by library administrators and those that are 
helping libraries to become Internet access points. Let's have some written 
policies that encourage (dare I say demand) a certain level of behavior in 
order to have access to the Internet, that require parental permission, that 
authorize the use of filters. Let's openly publicize our policies and expose 
ourselves to some public scrutiny. Let's try to do the right thing, not just 
what is "politically correct".
     
***************************************************************************** 
David Burt      President, Filtering Facts
Website:        http://www.filteringfacts.org 
E-Mail:         David_Burt at filteringfacts.org 
Phone/Fax:      503 635-7048