[Publib] DC Nightspot vs. SC Library Programs

[Mary Donley]

Judith and all,

I'm not sure about all reasons but one is that most
libraries have a heavy contingent of home schoolers
who are usually Christian.  They are in the library
constantly and could not home school at all without
being subsidized by the public library.  At my
previous library system, a "Christian" mom pulled up a
porn site on one of our PCs, walked off, then
complained to the mgr about h0aving "discovered"  porn
in the library.  She wanted us to filter the adult
section of PCs.  Unfortunately for her, someone saw
her do it, so she didn't get very far with her
complaint.  

These are the same people who check out or steal the
witchcraft or abortion books, then never bring them
back. In Florida there is a woman who is upset about a
children's book (at a school library), Vamos a Cuba,
which is too positive about Cuba and Fidel Castro. 
She checked out the book and won't bring it back.  I
have a current patron who gets all shook up every time
a Vanity Fair or other magazine cover has some nudity.
 

We live in an age of self-righteousness on all sides.
The Christian right has been organizing since the
Reagan administration and they aren't going away.

Mary


--- Judith Turner <turnermalibmba at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Last night I described both stories to my husband, a
> non-librarian, and asked him which was the real
> story and which the ringer.  He said -- with no
> hesitation -- the SC library program was obviously
> the fake.  
> 
> A bit of background- he's a computer-savvy engineer
> and businessman who recently retired from the
> company he founded in the health care information
> industry. He's also very newspaper-oriented -- a
> great(?)-grandfather founded the New Richmond (WI)
> News in the 19th century and the paper remained
> family-owned until his uncle passed away in the mid
> 20th century. Like the rest of us, he's aware of the
> stories about the shenanigans of Paris, Lindsay et
> al.
> 
> His reaction to the stories convinced me to pose
> this question -- when/how did public libraries
> become such a vulnerable spot in the ongoing
> conflict between Fundamentalism and personal
> liberties?
> 
> Judy Turner
> Whitefish Bay, WI
>  
>        
> ---------------------------------
> Pinpoint customers who are looking for what you
> sell. 
>        
> ---------------------------------
> Fussy? Opinionated? Impossible to please? Perfect. 
> Join Yahoo!'s user panel and lay it on us.>
_______________________________________________
> Publib mailing list
> Publib at webjunction.org
> http://lists.webjunction.org/mailman/listinfo/publib
> 



       
____________________________________________________________________________________
Got a little couch potato? 
Check out fun summer activities for kids.
http://search.yahoo.com/search?fr=oni_on_mail&p=summer+activities+for+kids&cs=bz