State of Kansas misses a beat thanks to attorney general (1 Viewer)

[Glenn Overholt]

Way to go Jack!

Ok, if he's tossing these out how can I get my hands on them? If they were donated they should remain free, and it would really be a crime if they went to the local trash heaps.

In other news, I don't see how anyone can say these are free. the AG and the library staffs have to sort/toss them, and that takes time, and they are getting paid to do that - with our tax $$.

Glenn

 

[Will_B]

Here in (name of major city I am near deleted because of suggestion by admin to keep discussion conceptual), our library does have Playboy -- but it is on microfilm. I don't think they have Hustler, but theoretically, assuming they had endless space (as data storage increases), I'd expect that any good library would try to include everything that is published.


Reverse that concept. There are private libraries which can focus on having only certain particular content. But a public library in service to the public needs to be completely unrestricted...as far as that is practical. It will be more practical in the future as storage space becomes increasingly irrelevant.

But here's why I don't like the quoted suggestion above:

Compare the public library system to the post office. Not a perfect comparison since the post office is a pseudo-private pseudo-government company (but then again, my library has to hold bake sales too, so perhaps the comparison is valid). So, imagine if the post office decided that it won't carry mail written by certain people.

One has to ask, are public services responsible to the public (all public living now, formerly living, going to be living later on), or are they responsible to the government? I'd say "to the people."

Ah well, as I've said a few dozen times already, this won't really become an issue until storage space and other factors completely eliminates any practical reason to omit anything. For now, it doesn't really matter - most libraries seem to only carry CDs that they found at Goodwill.

 

[Lee Scoggins]

It's always the people. The point is that the people in fact elected who they wanted the AG to be. Presumably part of their decision was based on his character which I think relates to his ability to decide community standards.

I don't think the Larry Flynt analogy works well here since the AG is not prohibiting pornography to exist but limiting its distribution by government entities.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

Can you cite the case where they have ruled that an elected official, not the courts themselves, has this right?

 

[Rachael B]

Lee, seriously, pornography isn't freely available...? Que? Are you on the same internet as me?

 

[Lee Scoggins]

Of course pornography is on the net, we were arguing about government having to support it. I still get some spam mail related to porno in spite of my spam/security issues.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

If you can't come up with a previous SC decision along those lines, you've totally invalidated your previous assertion. Law is all about the details. Is there any higher court precedent that upheld an elected official using prior restraint to restrict the development of library collections? And if so, based on what criteria? Arbitrary whim?

Heck, by your line of thought, the Attorney General of Massachussetts (Tom Reilly) could simply declare that contemporary Republican ideals don't fit their community standards (I'd say their voting record backs this up) and have all of the Reagan biographies removed from the libraries there. Do you think that would stand up in court?

I'm giving this as an example, I could say the same thing about about certain Sun Belt states with Republican attorney generals, so let's not get into any kind of political discussion here...

How would the content of any of these albums differ from the brutal violence in Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood" or the explicit sex in Judy Blume's "Wifey"? Both of these books are present on the shelves of Kansas libaries...I've done a catalog search.

There's so much fodder for a court case here that it is silly.

 

[Rob Gardiner]

I thought the AG's job was to argue legal matters on behalf of the state, not to screen materials meant for the library's shelves.

Why not send the CDs out to the libraries and let the librarians decide, based upon their own community standards, what is appropriate and what is not? This looks like one individual imposing his tastes upon the entire state.



To be fair, the DEVO songs "Pink Pussy Cat", "I Need a Chick", and "Penetration in the Centerfold" are somewhat explicit, and the CD "DEVO's Greatest Misses" contains a Parental Advisory label. Still, I don't think the CD should be pulled from a library's shelves. An individual can decide for himself whether such material is appropriate to listen to.


I'm curious about one thing. Do most libraries have policies in place for minors who want to check out the works of the Marquis De Sade, for example?


EDIT: I'm also curious to know what LOU REED albums were withheld.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

Where I live, each county has their own staff in charge of collection development. 'Community standards' is one of many criteria they consider in deciding what to add. They have had some complaints about not carrying R-rated films and explicit albums (which they attribute to not having separate 'youth' and 'adult' library cards, but that doesn't stop the county next door), so they are looking at making some some policy changes to accommodate this. They also get complaints about various books and magazines that they do have in their collection, but most of these do not result in any titles being dropped. No matter what you do, some people are always offended...some folks are rankled enough by Harry Potter to ask to have the books removed...

 

[Thomas Newton]

I wonder when the Senate will introduce an bill to outlaw record company activities that constitute "inducement to commit violence and engage in illegal activity".

Oh, you mean the only type of "inducement" that matters is "inducement to infringe"? Never mind...

 

[Nick Graham]

Mother of all that is holy. Not that the local podunk library would carry them, but there are a few in surrounding towns who would gladly take them. So pathetic....why must all these public figures who claim to belong to the same party as me act like such morons? At the very least I'd prefer if they didn't represent my state.

 

[Chet_F]

Maybe the libraries should concentrate on using library cards and the card holders age to determine who can rent this or that. Suprising that this hasn't been done yet considering the current technology. You would have thought they could have done this when Elvis decided to gyrate hsi hips too much.

 

[Rachael B]

Nick, maybe you should join the Silly Party?