all,
safelibraries has a
letter
to the editor published in the daily southtown
in illinois, right
in the heart of ala country. i? 1/2 it involves the
current
battle over hb1727
to allow communities to control their own libraries
instead of the ala. i? 1/2 basically, hb1727 would strongly encourage
the use of internet filtering technology on public library filters
in illinois libraries. i? 1/2 the ila (illinois library association)
opposes
this
and has stated the main argument against hb1727 is that it
prevents local control of libraries. i? 1/2 however, since the librarians
who follow the ila and/or the ila actually control the libraries (even
to the extent that they can and have shut down internet access in
a manner reminiscent of propagandistic blackmail), hb1727 actually
takes control away from the librarians and returns it to the communities.
safelibraries was started as a direct result of the
efforts
of the ala to squelch local control
in the oak lawn (il) public
library. i? 1/2 first, a father (the other member of safelibraries)
asked the library to remove
playboy
magazine which, among other things,
the library made available to children via photocopy
. i? 1/2
it
refused
. i? 1/2 so he got about a thousand signatures. i? 1/2
no good. i? 1/2 an
independent town survey was taken
- 87% said
playboy
should go and 94% said children should not access it. i? 1/2 still
no change of heart from the library (perhaps it doesn't have one). i? 1/2
the
actual town government itself sent a letter to the library
. i? 1/2
the library refused to budge.
all the while
the head librarian ridiculed the father
with his fellow ala "councilors,"
the
ala
president thanked the him using more language that made fun of the
community
, and the
de facto
40 year leader of the ala
said she was
sick of people trying to turn libraries into safe places for children
, in the chicago tribune, no less.
clearly, there is no local control, as least in oak lawn, il. i? 1/2
even the town government was snubbed here. i? 1/2 and the children
still have access to
playboy
magazine. i? 1/2 what a coincidence,
since "
playboy's
own sex and violence agenda long funded the american library association
and its freedom to read ... campaign
."
in any case, that head librarian was quoted recently as saying he
acts on behalf of the community: i? 1/2 "oak lawn public library
director jim casey said it's erroneous to say libraries don't care
about protecting children.i? 1/2 'we're all concerned about protecting
children from porn,' casey said. 'we do what we feel is right
based on understanding of our community.'" (
libraries
protest filter proposal
)i? 1/2
given the above, that is the exact opposite of reality. i? 1/2 people
need to know that, especially in light of the tremendous propaganda
effort the ila has caused librarians to bring to bear on the entire
state of illinois in an possible illegal fashion.
therefore, i wrote the following letter in an effort to try in any
way i can to shed light on the truth the ila and others seek to hide:
no local
control in oak lawn
in response to stephanie gehring's article
(may 15, southtown), i say jim casey is misleading. and he
should know.
he was among a group of people who personally
ensured children maintained access to playboy magazine (via request
for any page range to be photocopied) in the oak lawn public library,
despite community wishes. he and the library board ignored
a single citizen, then hundreds of citizens, then a town survey,
then the mayor of oak lawn himself.
while doing so, he corresponded with his
fellow ala councilors to mischaracterize people, and was patted
on the head by the ala's president who similarly attacked the citizens
of oak lawn.
local control? not a chance in oak
lawn. why? jim casey and the ala. this is in part
why house bill 1727 is needed.
in my opinion, jim casey falsely claims,
"we're all concerned about protecting children from porn,"
and, "we do what we feel is right based on understanding of
our community."
this is what the story reports him as
saying. this is propaganda pure and simple.
ask oak lawn mayor dave heilmann if he
thinks jim casey cares about children more than the ala agenda mr.
casey enforces.
dan kleinman
chatham, nj
safelibraries.org
thank you all for your help, especially the daily southtown.
dan kleinman
safelibraries.org
oak lawn, il & chatham, nj
ps:i? 1/2 safelibraries has other articles regarding hb1727 published:
open letter to illinois legislators re: hb 1727 and ila misinformation
open
letter to lawmakers regarding library internet filters
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http://www.safelibraries.org/
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