By David Burt
Editor’s note: David Burt is a child protection activist, a practicing librarian and a member of the American Library Association (ALA). He is the founder of Filtering Facts, a nonprofit organization that works to protect children from the harmful effects of pornography. He recently authored Dangerous Access (See AFA Journal, 7/99.), a study that documents over 503 incidents of patrons accessing pornography in public libraries. David filed the following report about several presentations he attended at the annual ALA national conference in June in New Orleans.
September 1999 – American Library Association “intellectual freedom” hard-liners, those who defend the rights of children to access pornography, were noticeably downcast and defensive at this year’s conference. As a result of the connection between the Internet and the Littleton shootings, the campaign of radio host Dr. Laura and the impending passage of library filtering legislation in Congress, many ALA staffers and members seemed to feel their organization is under siege.
Whose responsibility?
The program title Kids Have Rights/Parents Have Responsibilities/Librarians Have Ulcers! sums up the ALA belief that children have the right to view whatever they want, and parents – not librarians – have the sole responsibility to tell them not to look.
One presenter made a pitch for using “smart library cards” that can be pre-coded by parents to start either a filtered or unfiltered library Internet session.
An Illinois librarian said that she checks the names of Internet users against the local police registry of sex offenders. This brought gasps from some of the audience, as many in the ALA consider this type of monitoring to be an invasion of privacy.
At past conventions, programs about library pornography have always favored ALA policies, so I was stunned to see such real-world diversity. However, I became convinced that this diversity was all for show when the program monitor looked straight into the CSPAN camera and said, “We hope that what you heard here shows that ALA does not dictate policy.”
Keynote speaker
In recent weeks, popular talk show hostess Dr. Laura Schlessinger had asked her radio listeners to encourage Gen. Colin Powell (retired) to turn down the invitation to be the keynote speaker at the conference.
Powell told the audience of several thousand that he visited libraries where computers had no Internet filtering and read transcripts of testimony to Congress in support of filtering. After researching the issue, Powell concluded, “The primary line of defense rests with the parents.” This comment brought enthusiastic applause from ALA supporters.
Then Powell altered course. “As determined as I am to protect the First Amendment, I recognize that freedom can be difficult. We all know that for the good of society, sometimes restraints are necessary,” he said. “Why not use filtering software if it can protect children?” The question brought scattered applause.
He expressed certainty that proposed legislation would pass, authorizing Congress to withhold funds from libraries that do not filter Internet porn. He said the measure “won’t destroy the First Amendment rights of children, but will assist us in making our way through the difficulty.” The comment brought audible gasps.
Trustees seminar
X-Rated in the Library?: Trustees in Defense of Intellectual Freedom was intended to show library trustees how to “speak with one voice” on intellectual freedom matters. Between speakers, a bell would ring and the names of “banned books” such as Diary of Anne Frank were solemnly read. (The audience wasn’t told that few of these books were actually banned, but were merely challenged.)
Carol Henderson, from ALA’s Washington Office appealed to library trustees in the audience to help defeat the McCain amendment. “Most members of Congress have egos, [so] get them into your library, honor them, and give them awards,” Henderson suggested.
Pro-porn panel
The program presented by outgoing ALA President Ann Symons was a panel discussion featuring Playboy Enterprises CEO Christie Hefner, American Civil Liberties Union President Nadine Strossen, and attorney Bruce Ennis who frequently represents pornographers – a pornographer and two pro-porn lawyers!
Nadine Strossen, who has publicly stated that harmful-to-minors laws should be repealed and that pornography doesn’t harm children, gushed about ALA’s “wonderful policy on age.”
Hefner denied that pornography was harmful, claiming that any “linkage between images and media and violence is not intellectually supportable.”
For several reasons, I was encouraged by what I saw at the ALA conference. The siege mentality among some influential ALA members indicates that our efforts to protect our communities from harmful ALA policies and practices are being effective.
Some leaders appear to be considering the acceptability of “parental choice filtering” using smart cards. And with filtering legislation heading toward passage, it appears too late for any kind of compromise that might water down that legislation. 
