Every library I've worked in allows patrons to look at pornography, unless someone complains. A staff way around this is that staff complaints count too.
The exception to this is if we see someone viewing child pornography, in which case we are to call the police. It is not illegal to look at regular porn but child porn is illegal. It's a legal issue and not a content one. In a library, this makes all the difference in the world.
This is why I surprised to read that a librarian in California has been fired for calling the police after witnessing a man looking at child pornography. In my opinion, she did the right thing and I feel pretty sure that her job will be reinstated. Poorly handled by the library. Just because we are champions for free expression and access does not mean that our patrons can break the law. And really, is access to child porn the issue any public library wants to fight? Don't think so.
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2 comments:
of course, "pictures of naked boys in various positions" is not child pornography. perhaps she was fired because she didn't follow her library's procedures for handling these matters. Every library i've worked at has very clear procedures for handling possible criminal activity and (in a non-emergency situation) it always begins with calling a superior, not the police.
sn
ok, i see she did call her sup first and it was child porn. i have a friend who grew up in tulare, and it's a weird place. but i still know we're only getting half the story, so who knows why she was really let go?
sn
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