SEATTLE – Despite a ruling from the Washington State Supreme Court allowing librarians to use discretion when censoring materials available on public library computers, administrators at all 27 branches of the Seattle Public Library are standing firm in their commitment not to filter content.
To do so, even to prevent accidental exposure of children to pornography, would violate taxpayers’ First Amendments rights, Seattle’s librarians avow.
“Patrons have a right to view constitutionally-protected information no matter where they are in the building, and the library does not censor what a patron reads or views on a computer,” library spokesperson Andra Addison told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
Not unexpectedly, some parents in the city are miffed. Despite a decrease in the total number of outraged reports about porn-viewing — from 70 in 2012 to only four so far in 2013, the newspaper reported — the anti-porn voices remain loud in their opposition to the librarians’ stance.
“I’m not anti-porn. I’m not a church lady,” library patron Julie Vanderburg told the Seattle P-I, adding that when she complained to library staff about seeing inappropriate material in full view of her children, she received an angry response. “If a child tripped on a broken piece of sidewalk on Beacon Hill, or a car blew a tire because of a pothole, the City of Seattle would fix it.”
Exactly how the City of Seattle should “fix” the alleged porn problem in public libraries remains a bone of contention. Library computers already are equipped with privacy screens, and those used by adult are located away from areas where children are likely to roam. Computers intended for use by children are equipped with content filters to prevent accidental exposure to porn.
Those measures are insufficient to protect all children all the time, parents argue. The librarians’ comeback? Parents should supervise their children.
In an attempt to gauge public sentiment, the Seattle P-I mounted an online poll Sept. 8. By Sept. 10, the responses were overwhelmingly against the libarians’ First Amendment stance: 69 percent of respondents wanted the library system to ban all pornography on public computers. Fifteen percent said the library’s policy is fine as it is, and “offended people need to get over it.” Another 10 percent suggested the library system create special rooms for patrons who wish to visit sites that may contain material deemed inappropriate for minors, and six percent said the library should post conspicuous warnings that “images of naked people having sex” may be visible on public computer screens.
