How to steal a nation's libraries

From WorldNetDaily...

The incident developed on Feb. 28 when [Brenda] Beisterfeld, a single mother, was working in the Lindsay Branch library [California public library], and she noticed Donny Lynn Chrisler, 39, viewing child porn on one of the public-use computers.

"She immediately went to her supervisor, Judi Hill, who instructed her to give him a warning and explain that on his second warning he would be banned from the library," Liberty Counsel said. "When Biesterfeld asked if she should call the police, Hill told her not to and that the library would handle it internally."

She also was told that "this happens more often than she would think."

Biesterfeld was so unnerved by the situation, she talked with police the next day. Then on March 4, when Chrisler returned, Biesterfeld saw him viewing more child porn and called police.

"When police officers arrived they caught Chrisler viewing the child pornography, arrested him, and placed him in the Tulare County Jail, where he remains on $10,000 bail," Liberty Counsel said. "Further investigation uncovered more child pornography in Chrisler's home."

But when police confiscated the computer from the library, Hill confronted them and said they had no business enforcing the child pornography law within the library.

"Even after the police captain explained that a federal law had been violated, making it a legal matter to be handled by police, Hill never offered to help," Liberty Counsel said. "Instead, she demanded to know who made the report."

Even though police investigators concealed Biesterfeld's name, Hill claimed she knew who it was, and within 20 minutes the captain got a call from Biesterfeld saying Hill had called her and rebuked her. Two days later and without explanation Biesterfeld was fired.

Several legal groups have jumped in to help Brenda Biesterfeld fight the library and get her job back.

Meanwhile, back in 2006 Steve Baldwin, Director of the Council for National Policy and former state legislator from California where he chaired the Assembly Education Committee wrote...

It’s a dirty little secret that the librarians of today are far removed from the prim and proper characterization which for years was part of American lore; today, these professionals -- more precisely, the ALA -- has taken its place among the militant left and has staked out positions well beyond the mainstream.

There are few very [sic] libraries today in which I would leave my 13-year-old son unescorted, because, unfortunately, the protection and safety of our children is simply no longer a priority for libraries or for the ALA. That may sound harsh, but it’s true and the shrill cry of censorship one constantly hears emanating from the ALA is really disturbing considering the shocking books they defend....

The books that used to inspire; which celebrated American values; that chronicled the exploits of trailblazers, astronauts, soldiers, and other heroes, are fast disappearing. And their replacements are books like: "A Woman in Heat Wiping Herself," "Outside the Operating Room of a Sex-Change Doctor," and the "Rainbow Boys," a story of three homosexual boys and the various routes they took in "coming out."

The ALA response to parental complaints was the creation a few years ago of a national event they call "Banned Books Week" in which outrageous charges are made about parents supposedly attempting to ban classics like "Huckleberry Finn" and "Of Mice and Men." It’s an ingenious tactic considering the ALA seems intent on phasing out the classics. However, parent researchers and bloggers have found many of these allegations to be false or grossly exaggerated; for example, the ALA counts as censorship incidents in which a parent simply requests that the school or library be more age selective when assigning books or amend a teacher’s mandatory reading list to include other books not so offensive....

When I co-sponsored a bill to have filters placed on library computers so as to block pornographic and racist web sites, the ALA went ballistic. They flew in their big guns and in front of a hearing room full of shocked parents, argued that "the First Amendment is more important than parental concerns about content" and made clear they were totally against any effort to block content of any kind from children no matter what age. Indeed, the ALA web site arrogantly states, "Librarians do not serve in loco parentis."...

A 2000 report by the Family Research Council details how its researchers sent out surveys to every librarian in America asking questions about access to pornography. Despite efforts by the ALA to stop its members from responding, 462 librarians did respond. Their replies revealed 472 instances of children assessing pornography, 962 instances of adults accessing pornography, 106 instances of adults exposing children to pornography, five attempted child molestations, 144 instances of child porn being accessed and 25 instances of library staff being harassed by those viewing pornography. Over 2,062 total porn-related incidents were reported by a mere 4.6% of our nation’s librarians so one can assume the number of incidents is probably twenty times higher....

The ALA’s bias is so obvious that when parent groups have offered to place books in libraries with conservative themes or are critical of the left, the ALA’s claims of being First Amendment guardians suddenly look fraudulent. When one parent tried to donate George Grant’s book, "Killer Angel," a critical biography of Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger, the library sent a letter stating that "the author's political and social agenda…is not appropriate." Huh? A biographical book with zero profanity is banned but books that feature the "F" word a hundred times are sought after with zeal. Go figure.

Ironically, the biggest censor in America today is currently the ALA. Libraries with limited budgets make decisions every day as to which books to purchase or not to purchase. Such decisions are often based on recommendations from the ALA. With hundreds of thousands of libraries in America today, the purposeful actions of librarians to not select books with a conservative perspective is having an enormous impact on our culture, our value system and our youth.

I noticed this several years ago when I tried to donate a conservative book to a local library and was told they don't take donations of specific books, but would accept money, then buy what books they deemed "appropriate". I asked how that was not censorship, and they couldn't answer.

Posted by Danny Carlton at March 21, 2008 6:56 AM