”
What is that?
”
asked 13-year-old Anne, who was curled up behind me on the
beanbag, reading
”
Les Miserables.
”
I glanced over my shoulder at her, then glanced back at my
e-mail. I hate to frighten her, but she had been whining, just the
week before, that surely she was now old enough to walk the block
and a half over to the library by herself.
“What is that?” asked 13-year-old Anne, who was curled up behind me on the beanbag, reading “Les Miserables.” I glanced over my shoulder at her, then glanced back at my e-mail. I hate to frighten her, but she had been whining, just the week before, that surely she was now old enough to walk the block and a half over to the library by herself.
“An 8-year-old girl was raped and left for dead in the bathroom of a library in Philadelphia,” I told her. “That is, by the way, why I will not let you go to the library by yourself.”
It is also, by the way, why I will be voting no on Measure B, the library parcel tax, on March 2. Not particularly because of a critically injured little girl in Philly, but because our library, like the Free Library of Philadelphia, has a policy that creates a dangerous environment for women and children.
Anne’s discontent about my over-protectiveness stems in part because she can remember vaguely how in 1996 she, at age 6, was allowed to walk with her brothers, ages 9 and 12, over to the library for Summer Reading Club.
Then the Internet was installed. To our amazement, we soon witnessed children of 12 and 13 using the terminals to view pornography. And to our incredulous horror, our erstwhile allies, the librarians, refused to do anything about it.
“It is the right of the child to look at anything he wants,” they said. “Please respect the privacy of the child. Open access to all patrons, regardless of age.”
Thus began the library ‘Net porn battle. For the next three years, we petitioned, spoke, wrote, attended meetings, gathered incident reports, wrote press releases, lobbied, and picketed. In 1998, we won a partial victory: the JPA voted to filter the children’s terminals and to install an introductory screen on all terminals.
But they refused to change their policy. To this day, if a patron complains that another patron, even a child, is accessing pornography, the librarian has the discretion to tell the complaining patron to respect the privacy of the porn-surfer.
What does this have to do with Measure B? The signs sprouting up on lawns across Gilroy say “For Books and Hours.” I love books, but Measure B actually will “provide updated books, materials, and computer technology.” I refuse to vote for a measure that will provide to residents of Santa Clara County free access to DVDs, videos, and Internet pornography.
Santa Clara County Library likes to brag that it offers a wide selection of information and entertainment to its diverse population, and that it refuses to censor, even if certain people find some of its offerings shocking. This all sounds very noble, until you consider that the diverse population includes registered sex offenders, and the information and entertainment includes illegal obscenity and child pornography.
The Free Library of Philadelphia boasts a very similar policy. So in Philadelphia, this Brian McCutcheon, who had in 2001 copped a misdemeanor plea to simple assault when he was accused of ripping the bathing suit off of a 9-year-old girl, made a habit of using the library computers to view pornography. He was even shown on TV accessing porn in 2002.
He would get upset and yell and use foul language when the librarians told him his 30 minutes of tax-financed obscenity were over. When he exposed himself to a 16-year-old library assistant, he was banned from the library, but apparently the library did not report the incident to the police.
But he returned to the library, and on Saturday, Feb. 7, he hid in the women’s room. An 8-year-old girl, who was visiting the library with her grandmother, had to go to the bathroom. McCutcheon ripped off her clothing, sexually assaulted her, choked her, and left her unconscious body jammed between the toilet and the wall.
She is in critical condition. He is in jail. And in Gilroy and Morgan Hill, the Santa Clara County Library refuses discriminate in favor of children and against child molestors. They still adhere to the ALA policy of all materials to all patrons, regardless of age.
