[OPLINLIST] Censorship Controversy in Kentucky

[Epling, Jimmie (KDLA)]

The Jessamine County Public Library in Nicholasville, KY is facing a
censorship challenge.  Below are three reports about the issue.  

 

The local newspaper is conducting an online poll
(http://www.jessaminejournal.com/) to learn what people think about the
issue.  The question is: "Should the Jessamine County Public Library
allow juveniles access to controversial, adult material?"  At this
moment, the results stand at:

No                               55%        91 

Yes                              44%        73 

No opinion                 1%          2 

This is not a scientific poll              Total votes:        166

 

Because of the interest in censorship of those in the library
profession, I thought this might be of interest to those living outside
of Kentucky.

 

Jimmie

 

Jimmie Epling

Regional Library Consultant

Region 8 Field Office

Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives

P.O. Box 370, 122 South Main Cross St.

Louisa, KY 41230-0370

O: 606.521.0107   C: 606.923.1576   F: 606.638.0586

jimmie.epling at ky.gov

 

Librarians Won't Give Child 'Porn' Book (Two Nicholasville librarians
are fired for not allowing a kid check out a book. The women say the
book contains pornographic material inappropriate for children. The two
women say they were fired last month when they wouldn't let a young girl
check out a book from The League of Extraordinary Gentleman series. Now,
both women say they're less concerned with their jobs and more concerned
with keeping material like this out of children's hands.)  

WTVQ-TV (Lexington, KY). Oct. 21, 2009

http://wtvq.com/news/672-librarians-wont-give-child-porn-book 

  

Two Nicholasville librarians are fired for not allowing a kid check out
a book. The women say the book contains pornographic material
inappropriate for children. The two women say they were fired last month
when they wouldn't let a young girl check out a book from The League of
Extraordinary Gentleman series. Now, both women say they're less
concerned with their jobs and more concerned with keeping material like
this out of children's hands. 

            "Residents in Jessamine County do not realize that these
books that are so graphic are available in the library let alone to
their children," former Jessamine County librarian, Beth Bovaire, said.
Beth Bovaire worked at Jessamine County Public Library up until a month
ago. She and Sharon Cook worked as librarians- the two were fired last
month when they say they didn't allow a child check out a book from the
league of extraordinary gentleman series. "My friend Sharon had brought
it to me on Wednesday, and she said 'look at this book it's filthy and
it's on hold for an 11 year old girl,' and I said well okay, lets take
it off hold."

            The Jessamine County Library director says it's against
their policy to speak about employee terminations but he did give me a
copy of their policy and it clearly states the responsibilities of the
child's reading must lye with the parents and not with the library.

            The women say the books contain lewd pictures of men and
women in sexual situations that are inappropriate for children. "If you
give children pornography, a child, a 12 year old, can not understand
and process the same way a 30 year old can," Sharon Cook said. The women
say parents these days are swamped and it's far too easy for a child to
check out a book without them ever knowing. The women hope the library
will reconsider their policies to make sure children aren't checking out
inappropriate materials.

 

'Lewd' novel leads to hushed protest: JCPL board VP to seek public
comments in Nov. (More than 50 members of the public showed up at the
Jessamine County Public Library's Board of Trustees meeting on Oct. 21,
apparently in hopes of voicing their protest of juvenile access to
controversial material in the library, but in accordance with the
board's current policy, they all sat in silence. The posted agenda made
no mention of the matter, and a long-standing policy of the board
prevented any of the members of the public from speaking at the meeting.
The policy of the board of directors at the library has always been that
public comments are to come through the executive director. He is
available to take your comments. This board does not have a policy where
it hears open comments. Kentucky's Open Meetings Act ensures the public
the opportunity to attend meetings, a 1995 opinion of the attorney
general clarified that the act does not grant the public the right to
address the members of the public agency during the meeting.)

Jessamine Journal. Oct. 28, 2009

http://www.jessaminejournal.com/stories/2009/10/28/thw.753561.sto 

 

More than 50 members of the public showed up at the Jessamine County
Public Library's Board of Trustees meeting on Oct. 21, apparently in
hopes of voicing their protest of juvenile access to controversial
material in the library, but in accordance with the board's current
policy, they all sat in silence.

            Beth Boisvert and Sharon Cook, both former employees of the
library, distributed material at the meeting that said they were fired
in September for refusing to allow an 11-year-old girl to check out the
illustrated novel "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier,"
which, according to Boisvert and Cook, contains "lewd pictures of men
and women in sexual situations." The material said Boisvert and Cook
were put on the agenda for the board meeting to present an argument to
change the library's current policy, which allows minors access to all
adult material, but then were removed from the agenda the day before the
meeting.

            Library Executive Director Ron Critchfield said he could not
comment on the termination but did comment on the reason Boisvert and
Cook were not on the agenda for the meeting. "They were never placed on
the agenda as advised by legal counsel due to the ongoing situation
concerning their termination," Critchfield said.The library's
"collection development policy" was also available at the meeting. Part
of it reads, "Responsibility for a child's reading must rest with the
parent or guardian, not with the library."

            The posted agenda made no mention of the matter, and a
long-standing policy of the board prevented Boisvert, Cook and any of
the members of the public from speaking at the meeting. Ellen Miller,
the lawyer retained by the library, explained the guidelines at the
beginning of the meeting. "The policy of the board of directors at the
library has always been that public comments are to come through our
executive director," Miller said. "He is available to take your
comments. This board does not have a policy where it hears open
comments." Miller said although Kentucky's Open Meetings Act ensures the
public the opportunity to attend meetings, a 1995 opinion of the
attorney general clarified that the act does not grant the public the
right to address the members of the public agency during the meeting.

In the period designated for new business, board Vice President Dwight
Hitch said he would be bringing up this issue at the next meeting. "I
think it would be a good idea to receive comments, input, from the
people who have cared enough to come out here today and participate in
this hearing," Hitch said. "I'm not going to pass that we do it today,
but I'm going to go ahead and state that at the next meeting in
November, I will make a motion to receive their comments at that time."
Hitch's statement was met with applause from the members of the public
present at the meeting.

Boisvert said that despite being fired, her and Cook's "primary concern"
was still the library's juvenile-access policy. "We were more concerned
with getting that policy changed and getting the child protected than we
are with the job issue," Boisvert said. "We can handle that separately."

            The next meeting of the Jessamine County Public Library's
Board of Trustees is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on Nov. 18 in the library's
Meeting Room B.

 

If we build it correctly, they will come (Ron Critchfield, Jessamine
County Public Library Director, reviews the library's collection. When a
public library builds a collection of materials, multiple perspectives
are represented on a given topic across a variety of literary genres and
media formats. In building a library collection, professionals follow a
detailed collection development policy to guide the selection of
materials.  development philosophy and policies.  We select for
ourselves or our own children what items to check-out - while others do
the same based on their individual preferences.

Nicholasville Jessamine Journal. Oct. 27, 2009

http://www.jessaminejournal.com/stories/2009/10/27/opi.682737.sto 

 

In my first column in The Jessamine Journal I asked, "Will you read
this?" I discussed that a public library collects diverse materials for
access by a diverse community. And how the public library builds a
collection based on the philosophical principle that all persons in the
community should have equal and open access to ideas from all
perspectives. In addition to this, the public library collection is
built to guarantee the freedom of all citizens to choose what they want.
So if a public library collection is built correctly, all persons should
be able to come into the library and find material of interest to them.

            When a public library builds a collection of materials,
multiple perspectives are represented on a given topic across a variety
of literary genres and media formats. In building a library collection,
professionals follow a detailed collection development policy to guide
the selection of materials. Criteria found in a collection development
policy should include considerations such as: reviews by critics and
other experts in professionally recognized publications; reputation and
literary significance of the author/artist; popular appeal and demand of
the work; representation of an important movement, genre, or cultural
trend; and relationship and overall value to existing library
collections and other related materials.

            When browsing a public library collection with tens to
hundreds of thousands of items, will everyone personally agree with
every item? No. We all have different perspectives and beliefs that
guide our choices of library materials. And given this diversity, we
select for ourselves or our own children what items to check-out - while
others do the same based on their individual preferences. As customers
of a public library there is a First Amendment expectation to respect
the rights of all persons - what one person might view as questionable
might be quite important and relevant to another.

            Last fiscal year, over 240,000 visitors found the Jessamine
County Public Library collection built for them as a record number of
items were checked-out - an extraordinary 548,000 items. This is an
exciting illustration of the local public library collection as a
community asset. A community asset built for all to come and enrich
their lives through ideas, information, and cultural opportunities.

 

'Lewd' novel leads to hushed protest: JCPL board VP to seek public
comments in Nov. (More than 50 members of the public showed up at the
Jessamine County Public Library's Board of Trustees meeting on Oct. 21,
apparently in hopes of voicing their protest of juvenile access to
controversial material in the library, but in accordance with the
board's current policy, they all sat in silence. The posted agenda made
no mention of the matter, and a long-standing policy of the board
prevented any of the members of the public from speaking at the meeting.
The policy of the board of directors at the library has always been that
public comments are to come through the executive director. He is
available to take your comments. This board does not have a policy where
it hears open comments. Kentucky's Open Meetings Act ensures the public
the opportunity to attend meetings, a 1995 opinion of the attorney
general clarified that the act does not grant the public the right to
address the members of the public agency during the meeting.)

Jessamine Journal. Oct. 28, 2009

http://www.jessaminejournal.com/stories/2009/10/28/thw.753561.sto 

 

More than 50 members of the public showed up at the Jessamine County
Public Library's Board of Trustees meeting on Oct. 21, apparently in
hopes of voicing their protest of juvenile access to controversial
material in the library, but in accordance with the board's current
policy, they all sat in silence.

            Beth Boisvert and Sharon Cook, both former employees of the
library, distributed material at the meeting that said they were fired
in September for refusing to allow an 11-year-old girl to check out the
illustrated novel "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier,"
which, according to Boisvert and Cook, contains "lewd pictures of men
and women in sexual situations." The material said Boisvert and Cook
were put on the agenda for the board meeting to present an argument to
change the library's current policy, which allows minors access to all
adult material, but then were removed from the agenda the day before the
meeting.

            Library Executive Director Ron Critchfield said he could not
comment on the termination but did comment on the reason Boisvert and
Cook were not on the agenda for the meeting. "They were never placed on
the agenda as advised by legal counsel due to the ongoing situation
concerning their termination," Critchfield said.The library's
"collection development policy" was also available at the meeting. Part
of it reads, "Responsibility for a child's reading must rest with the
parent or guardian, not with the library."

            The posted agenda made no mention of the matter, and a
long-standing policy of the board prevented Boisvert, Cook and any of
the members of the public from speaking at the meeting. Ellen Miller,
the lawyer retained by the library, explained the guidelines at the
beginning of the meeting. "The policy of the board of directors at the
library has always been that public comments are to come through our
executive director," Miller said. "He is available to take your
comments. This board does not have a policy where it hears open
comments." Miller said although Kentucky's Open Meetings Act ensures the
public the opportunity to attend meetings, a 1995 opinion of the
attorney general clarified that the act does not grant the public the
right to address the members of the public agency during the meeting.

In the period designated for new business, board Vice President Dwight
Hitch said he would be bringing up this issue at the next meeting. "I
think it would be a good idea to receive comments, input, from the
people who have cared enough to come out here today and participate in
this hearing," Hitch said. "I'm not going to pass that we do it today,
but I'm going to go ahead and state that at the next meeting in
November, I will make a motion to receive their comments at that time."
Hitch's statement was met with applause from the members of the public
present at the meeting.

Boisvert said that despite being fired, her and Cook's "primary concern"
was still the library's juvenile-access policy. "We were more concerned
with getting that policy changed and getting the child protected than we
are with the job issue," Boisvert said. "We can handle that separately."

            The next meeting of the Jessamine County Public Library's
Board of Trustees is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on Nov. 18 in the library's
Meeting Room B.

 

 

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