[WEB4LIB] Re: E-mail in libraries

[Dan Lester]

At 02:02 PM 10/13/98 -0700, Patricia Uttaro wrote: 

>
> I am continually troubled by the heavy-handed approach some members of our
> profession take when it comes to recreational use of the Internet,
> particularly those in public libraries. So what if someone wants to use the
> Internet to play games or chat or send email? We provide popular reading
> materials in the line of cartoon collections, graphic novels, steamy romance
> novels, and books of trivia & games....why should we prohibit similar use of
> the Internet?

Aaahhhh....but remember, I do NOT work in a public library, and haven't since
1957, though I still remember that storefront branch in Des Moines Iowa fondly,
as it was my first library job.  

Also, it may be useful to remember NOT to shoot the messenger.  I've never said
what people "should do" or "shouldn't do", as we all have our own ideas of "how
to run this library good".  I've simply provided information that others have
obviously found useful, as I've received seven private emails and two phone
calls for follow up on this issue.  You wouldn't want to censor information
just because you didn't agree with it, would you?

>
> As a Youth Services librarian, I am especially troubled by this topic because
> most of the "perpetrators" targeted are kids. Is it not so much a "content"
> issue as an "age" issue? I wonder.....


Well, if you want to consider college students at an urban university, where
the average age of student is 29 to be "kids", that's up to you.  Yes, my
biological "kids" are 19, 25, and 31, but I don't refer to them or to our
patrons as such.  Actually, some of the most frequent offenders happen to be
generally-older "street people" (or insert more-politically-correct term of
your choice), although the greatest number of them are college students who
can't be bothered to walk 50 yards to the next building to a lab.  

cheers

dan

--
Dan Lester, 3577 East Pecan, Boise, ID 83716-7115 USA 208-383-0165
dan at 84.com   http://www.84.com/  http://www.idaholibraries.org/
 http://library.idbsu.edu/   http://cyclops.idbsu.edu/ http://www.lili.org/  
Sent me a postcard of a library yet?  You'll get something nice in return.