The 2003 Children’ Internet Protection Act requires public libraries to use filtering and blocking technology to keep federal funding. 
Libraries should be safe places for children. They should not be purveyors of pornography. The idea is horrifying to most parents to imagine someone with an addictive appetite viewing sexually explicit images in the computer cubicle next to their child.
When a young girl encountered pornography at a library in Florida, the man viewing it was simply asked to close the site. The Library administrators took the position that they were required to allow access to such material, contrary to the 2003 Protection Act. Why the contradiction? It turns out that the library is no longer run by an elderly and conservative widow who likes to pick a good read for kids. That woman died decades ago. The new librarians tend to be quite liberal. And with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), they are determined to defy the law.
David Miller is vice president of public policy for Ohio’s Citizens for Community Values. He says the American Library Association (ALA) has “a very liberal policy when it comes to patrons’ access to material, and its members are encouraged to push those same ideas and policies.” That evidently includes granting every request to view filtered or blocked sites, often with the knowledge that kids will see them, too.
Despite the law and the danger to children, the ALA and ACLU pressure libraries to allow unlimited access claiming that anything less is an infringement on First Amendment rights. The ACLU has advised libraries refuse federal funding rather than censorship.
Report adapted from News in Focus
Libraries should be safe places for children. They should not be purveyors of pornography. The idea is horrifying to most parents to imagine someone with an addictive appetite viewing sexually explicit images in the computer cubicle next to their child.
