Library porn goes beyond 1st Amendment

Brave librarians going against the grain in MN

The Pioneer Planet in MN continues is coverage of the trouble in the Minneapolis Public Library. This Story says that the librarians are upset over people viewing pornography in the library, and this could lead to a class action law suit.

“We\’re not just talking about naked ladies here. We\’re talking about the really raunchy stuff,\’\’ said Robert Halagan, who represents seven librarians from the city\’s central library in downtown Minneapolis.

Brave librarians going against the grain in MN

The Pioneer Planet in MN continues is coverage of the trouble in the Minneapolis Public Library. This Story says that the librarians are upset over people viewing pornography in the library, and this could lead to a class action law suit.

“We\’re not just talking about naked ladies here. We\’re talking about the really raunchy stuff,\’\’ said Robert Halagan, who represents seven librarians from the city\’s central library in downtown Minneapolis. “We\’re not just talking about naked ladies here. We\’re talking about the really raunchy stuff,\’\’ said Robert Halagan, who represents seven librarians from the city\’s central library in downtown Minneapolis. According to a complaint filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the library\’s policy of allowing patrons free and completely open access to the Internet creates a hostile work environment for the library\’s workers.


The debate surrounding Internet access at libraries is one that is nearly as old as the Internet itself. The general lines of argument pit the rights of children and other patrons not to be exposed to inappropriate material, such as porn and hate-mongering documents, against issues of censorship. But the complaint filed by the librarians adds a different element to that debate: conditions in the workplace.

“The First Amendment has nothing to do with it,\’\’ Halagan said. If the complaint moves forward, he said, it might become a class-action lawsuit, meaning that all librarians who were subjected to similar situations would be covered by any settlement.