As much as I dislike compromise, it has its place. Even in a society based on freedom and civil rights. I said it before and I say it again; the segregation of library books is one of those places.

I’m the type of guy who thinks government should censor very little creativity, especially written materials. I feel parents have the responsibility to censor their own kids: turn off the TV when necessary, check on what video games they buy, know what websites they visit. But who should be responsible for censoring library books in the children’s section? Librarians? The community? Legislators?

I admit ignorance when it comes to knowing the evaluation process for selecting children’s books. But it seems reasonable to me that community standards play an important role in deciding whether certain books should be made freely available to young children.

That was a year ago in response to Oklahoma legislators passing a resolution requesting the segregation of materials from the children’s section of state funded public libraries. The initial response from librarians?

… library officials have indicated they will not cooperate with parents’ requests.

Now, the Oklahoma Library Association has reaffirmed its position on the matter:

Be it Resolved that the Oklahoma Library Association supports Oklahoma libraries and Oklahoma librarians who provide opportunities for citizens of all ages and backgrounds to become informed, literate, and culturally enriched

While this is a noble stance by our stewards of public knowledge, to ignore the fact that some materials may not be appropriate for free access by young children is unresponsible to unsuspecting library patrons. What I do like:

… the Oklahoma Library Association supports the decisions of local library boards to set their own access policies to library materials.

… these locally appointed library boards are composed of dedicated citizens in Oklahoma who will continue to do an excellent job for their communities

… the Oklahoma Library Association affirms the right of individuals to express their opinions about library resources and services,

So the battle lines are drawn and we have this in HB2158:

Lawmakers voted today to withhold state funding from public libraries that do not “place all children and young adult materials that contain homosexual or sexually explicit subject matter in a special area of the library.”

To wit:

A municipal governing body or its appointed library board shall not expend or authorize the expenditure of any funds available for the operation of a public library unless the library has taken action to place all children and young adult materials that contain homosexual or sexually explicit subject matter in a special area of the library which is separate and apart from the children and young adult sections of the library and the library has a policy in place to limit distribution of the material to adults only.

Let me say for the record; I oppose HB2158 (rtf). It is a reactionary response by over-powering legislators that wrongly infringes upon the rights of citizens to manage their own community libraries. Yet, it is just as reactionary to disregard community standards by freely providing ready access to materials in an area of the library designated for young children, when said materials are deemed inappropriate by the vast majority of parents in that community.

I believe some librarians have found a reasonable compromise that meets the concerns of the many without denying the few. While it may not be perfect, allowing community libraries the opportunity to solve such problems on their own is preferred to the iron fist of a righteous state legislature.

Libraries in the Oklahoma City-County system will now have a ‘Parenting Collection,’ where they will keep books on alternative lifestyles, sex, and drug use.

And why do I think this is a good compromise? Because both sides are still unhappy.

… Lynn Rahman of the group Oklahomans for School Accountability believes more could be done to protect children from objectionable material.

Rahman says the Commission members are ‘trying to allay fears without really making an actual move.’ A bigger and more effective step for the library system officials to take would be to actually move the books from the children’s section, she insists, ‘not just to a higher shelf, because children can take books down and they can leave them laying around on tables and everywhere else, and a parent could simply do the same thing.’

Let’s see if we can handle this one ourselves, folks, and cut out the politicians. I’m writing my state senator and Gov. Henry (who may be inclined to veto HB2158), asking them to butt out.

Via Library Stories.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 20th, 2006 at 10:59 am and is filed under Legislation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.