Libraries as Adult Book Stores

Libraries as Adult Book Stores?
Somehow, I don’t think that taxpayers really want to subsidize adult book and video stores. And if consumers of pornography would like the rest of us to treat their appetites as their private affair, then it seems a fair exchange that they should keep it entirely to themselves. That should make for a perfect compromise that would keep the government out of the pornographers’ bedrooms and the pornographers out of the public’s face.
If only pornographers were content to keep to themselves. But alas, they are not. And they have a curious ally among our nation’s librarians. Apparently the librarians of today are not the stern, prudish spinsters who menaced noisy children in the libraries of my youth.
The United States Supreme Court unwisely decided that it was a violation of the First Amendment for governments to require libraries to use internet filters that block access to pornographic websites. In response the United States Congress placed restrictions upon the receipt of federal funds. As a condition for acquiring taxpayer money, libraries would have to install such filters. The American Library Association sued to gain access to that money without having to earn it.
What would the American Library Association have against such an arrangement? Why would librarians, of all people, want to facilitate the distribution of filth to children?
Municipalities have begun to use zoning laws to force adult bookstores away from schools, parks, churches and residential neighborhoods where children might congregate. At the same time, the American Library Association is working to provide a sanctuary for pornography within publicly funded libraries.
One would think that libraries would prefer to be viewed as repositories for the philosophical and literary crown jewels of our culture, and a place where children could find edification and shelter from the filth that permeates the outside world. Instead modern libraries would rather be suppositories.
Arguing against internet filters, Judith Krug of the American Library Association said, "Instead of relying on filtering technology, we should be educating children"…"It's not only learning the difference between right and wrong but how to use information wisely.” “There are no quick fixes," she concluded.
Even education is not the fix Ms. Krug thinks it is. That’s because children are not so easily educated. That’s why we place legal restrictions upon minors. We don’t allow children under the age of 18 to purchase cigarettes. An underage child may not legally give consent to sex. One must be 16 to have a driver’s license. So why should we assume that children are any wiser when it comes to pornography?
And the sad fact is that pornographers and their costumers do not want to simply be left alone. It is their clear intent to entice and seduce children. We can deduce this from the snares they used to capture innocent, young internet users. There are literally thousands of internet pornography sites named after popular children’s toys. A child who is enamored with the Tickle Me Elmo doll, might type something as innocent as http://www.ticklemeelmo.com and suddenly have hardcore pornography on his screen. Actually, just to be on the safe side, I checked out this site and it’s an internet gambling site. So, it isn’t just pornographers who are after your children. Typing http://www.whitehouse.gov will get you to the website of the president of the United States, while http://www.whitehouse.com will land you in a porno site. These are clearly tricks meant to draw innocent web surfers into sleaze.
It seems ironic that most adult bookstores are willing to exercise more wisdom and restraint than a public library. If you walk past an adult bookstore, you will find that there is invariably a notice denying access to minors.
Sadly, we’ve come a long way from the old days when, on her way to shopping, my mother would drop my brother and me off at the library where we could entertain ourselves with tasteful, appropriate literature. Now, I’d be afraid to leave a child in such a house of ill-repute as a library.
If the American Library Association has its way, maybe cities will have to revisit zoning laws. After all, we wouldn’t want a library anywhere near a school, a church or a residential neighborhood where children congregate.