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Gays and Public Libraries

Books are divided up into Kids, Youth and Adult, and a child can never take an adult book out. If they need an adult book, their parent or guardian can issue it on their (adult) card. Our libraries may be a bit bigger than yours (we have 8 branches) and we are fully a department of the council, but I would have thought that common sense about what should be acceptable in a public area would mean similar rules no matter how big or politic the library...

ETA:The parent can specify that a child is an 'Advanced Reader' in which case they can take out a limited number of adult books...
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Oh, this would have driven me completely spare as a kid. I was a very advanced and prolific reader from a young age, and read at an adult level. After the librarians had a talk with my parents, I was allowed complete access to everything but the 'restricted shelf' books, since my interests ran far and wide. Mind you, this was clear back in the 60s, in a very conservative town, and some of the librarians were horrified at the idea, especially when I started, at age 8, doing research on the bombing of Hiroshima. Yes, I was a rather dark and gloomy child, Wednesday Addams in ugly pink glasses :-D

Heidi
 
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deadrose,

I was almost sure you've been in our library, and her name IS Heidi!

We have about a half a dozen kids, less than 10 years old, who read well above their level, and often.

I am struck in awe, at how many books can be consumed by a single individual. Personally, a book a week is a lot. I watch the stupid box far too often, then there is music, gardening, winemaking, and then wine drinking...

Kids should read, a lot, about everything.

Good for you, deadrose. Spare not, there are libraries that would love to have you read on as you would choose.
 
deadrose said:
Oh, this would have driven me completely spare as a kid. I was a very advanced and prolific reader from a young age, and read at an adult level. After the librarians had a talk with my parents, I was allowed complete access to everything but the 'restricted shelf' books, since my interests ran far and wide. Mind you, this was clear back in the 60s, in a very conservative town, and some of the librarians were horrified at the idea, especially when I started, at age 8, doing research on the bombing of Hiroshima. Yes, I was a rather dark and gloomy child, Wednesday Addams in ugly pink glasses :-D
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I wasn't quite as advanced, but pretty similar. At 10, when the rest of my classmates were reading books by Bevery Cleary, Judy Blume, or maybe Madeline L'Engle, I was reading Dickens' A Christmas Carol and William Shirer's The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. (I was a pretty weird kid too.) I didn't really have any problem getting what I wanted from the library, and typically came home with stacks of stuff from the adult Sci-Fi and Fantasy section, as well as general literature, science, and history. My teachers didn't really pay that much attention to what I was reading, they pretty much ignored me and let me do my own thing, while concentrating on the kids who had barely gotten past Fun With Dick and Jane.
 
I had a long and devastatingly insightful post ready yesterday, but i lost it. Here's the highlights of what i can remember...

* I'm for free speech, and anti censorship.

* I don't think people should be using the computers in the learning center for look at porn. That costs the tax payer, and is tying up a computer that someone else could be using to look for a job or learn something, which is why they're there.

* They can read whatever they like. The library doesn't stock hustler and you can't download porn. That's just simple logic. Thats not what libraries are for.

* Advanced readers are allowed to take out adult books. Its set up so that a child can't accidentally grab a mills and boon (or something) and issue it...
 
vIQleS said:
* I'm for free speech, and anti censorship.

* I don't think people should be using the computers in the learning center for look at porn. That costs the tax payer, and is tying up a computer that someone else could be using to look for a job or learn something, which is why they're there.

* They can read whatever they like. The library doesn't stock hustler and you can't download porn. That's just simple logic. Thats not what libraries are for.
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It seems dangerous to me to for the librarian to decide what is "legitimate" reading material and what isn't. One man's "porn" is another man's "art", or another man's "educational material."
 
ZirconBlue said:
It seems dangerous to me to for the librarian to decide what is "legitimate" reading material and what isn't. One man's "porn" is another man's "art", or another man's "educational material."
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I'm getting a little frustrated because we're talking at cross purposes...

A. I'm not a librarian. I'm a computer teacher and part-time technician.

B. I never said anything about reading. I'm talking about downloading pictures of naked people. People can read what they like. (The filters will probably pick up most written porn, and fair enough too, but if someone had a legitimate site that they need to access, they have only to ask and it's usually unblocked the next day.) But if they want to come into the library and look at naked women (or men) and masturbate (it's happened...) they are SOL. (as far as the computers are concerned)

The computers are a recent addition and they've gone down really well. We've never had a complaint from anyone about the sensible, logical rules that are in place. The people that have been caught and kicked out haven't kicked up a big fuss about draconian censorship, they seem to realize that, no matter how much the wanted to misappropriate a public resources to look at porn, the rules are fair and just.

Maybe if they did kick up a fuss the policies would change - probably not.
 
vIQleS said:
I'm getting a little frustrated because we're talking at cross purposes...

A. I'm not a librarian. I'm a computer teacher and part-time technician.

B. I never said anything about reading. I'm talking about downloading pictures of naked people. People can read what they like. (The filters will probably pick up most written porn, and fair enough too, but if someone had a legitimate site that they need to access, they have only to ask and it's usually unblocked the next day.) But if they want to come into the library and look at naked women (or men) and masturbate (it's happened...) they are SOL. (as far as the computers are concerned)
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So what art is ruled out? You can't research Milchelangeloes David from the library computers? What about various Rapes of the Sabine Women? What about Betty Page?

Where exactly is the line between porn and art(traditionaly it is the ammount of money spent on it)? And why is something that will mostly be classifed as porn not something that can be studdied?
 
vIQleS said:
* I don't think people should be using the computers in the learning center for look at porn. That costs the tax payer, and is tying up a computer that someone else could be using to look for a job or learn something, which is why they're there.
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I am slightly against people looking at porn on library computers, but I am not going to fall on my sword defending the idea. However, I disagree with your argument. Adherants to the principle you describe would boot people off library computers for reading "American Idol" forums, looking at photos at http://www.catsinsinks.com , and arguing about what is the worst sitcom ever made.

Library computers connected to the internet are there for many reasons beyond looking for a job or trying to learn something.
 
Trying to legislate 'taste' is a path I hope our government never treads upon...

vIQleS scares me. I believe he is as wrong on this issue as it gets, nothing personal vIQleS.

ponderturtle is a right as rain, one man's art is another man's porn.

At the library we are there to provide access to ALL the information. There are no walls that stand in your way of learning about ANYTHING at the library.

What would you do vIQleS, if someone came into YOUR library, and wanted to do a research paper ON pornography???

"Oh I am sorry, you can't research that topic, how about doing a paper on say, Unicorns...?"

I hold that a library should be a window unto the entire world, not just a reflection of someone's personal morals.

vIQleS, I hope you can reconsider your stance, especially if you EVER work in a library...

---

EDA: Sorry ZirconBlue... You DID say it first...but that still makes it no less true ;)
 
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And sometimes a man says his porn is "art" to get his girfriend, or wife, or both, off his back.;)
 
Well after over a hundred posts, mostly involving censorship and porn access, the original question seems to be forgotten: should gays have their own libraries or should gay-friendly literature be available at the local public library?

Admit what it's really about, parents think that if their child reads a book presenting gay people in a positive way then their own child will become gay. Ridiculous. 99% of gay adults were raised in straight homes and NEVER saw a gay book at their local public libraries.

Hey straight people, when you see a gay couple on the street holding hands don't you want to be gay too? When you see a gay wedding on TV is it hard for you to resist leaving your spouse and moving to San Fransisco?

Face facts folks, your child is gay or straight already and nothing he or she reads in a public library is going to change that.

 
Shhh! I have investors lined up for my Conversion Ray project. I'm going to make millions! Unless you queer the deal.
 
There should be no need for "gay" libraries anymore than there should be a need for "black" or "hispanic" libraries.
 
Alt+F4 said:
Well after over a hundred posts, mostly involving censorship and porn access, the original question seems to be forgotten: should gays have their own libraries or should gay-friendly literature be available at the local public library?[/FONT]
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If everyone had just stuck to the original question, the thread would have just been a bunch of people all saying (a) no and (b) yes.

Wouldn't it?
 
ponderingturtle said:
So what art is ruled out? You can't research Milchelangeloes David from the library computers? What about various Rapes of the Sabine Women? What about Betty Page?

Where exactly is the line between porn and art(traditionaly it is the ammount of money spent on it)? And why is something that will mostly be classifed as porn not something that can be studdied?
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Generally, it's fairly easy to tell what's porn online. It usually says things like XXX, or You Must Be 18 to Enter, etc. Or so I hear. Having never looked at the stuff myself, of course.

Marc
 
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