Miscommunication and a Frozen Library Card

Not Returning DVD is One Year Suspension But Masturbation is OK
Not returning a DVD results in a one year suspension, following by the library claiming it never happened, but masturbation is perfectly acceptable in this public library:

Naperville, IL: “Library Confidential: Crimes Kept Secret; Indecent Acts, Violent Attacks And Sex Crimes Not Reported To Police,” WBBM-TV, 2 Nov 2006 (“He visibly had his hand down his pants,” McNichols said. And for a second time they say library officials did nothing. …. “It is atrocious what is going on in some of these libraries throughout the metropolitan area,” said Naperville Police Chief David Dial.); and “Your Library May Be A Safe Haven For Criminals; Library Confidential: Police Say Library Law Hinders Their Ability To Nab Offenders,” WBBM-TV, 3 Nov 2006 (The current law prohibits library staff from revealing the identity of a patron to police once they have left the library. …. “We have helped these laws be created and passed because they balance the right of the users of the libraries with the rights of law enforcement officer,” said Judith Krug of the American Library Association. [What about the rights of the victims?]).

Or how about this from the same Chicago library where masturbation = 0 days suspension and not paying overcharge for DVD = 365 day suspension:

Chicago, IL: – “How Safe Are Our Kids In Public Libraries? Convicted Sex Offenders Have Free And Legal Access To Pornography At Chicago Libraries,” CBS, 21 Dec 2006. “Online pornography is so clear and evident at Chicago libraries that we could actually see a patron looking at porn simply by standing on a city street and looking through the window. …. But what he did was legal because there are no guidelines against viewing pornography at Chicago libraries. Even convicted sex offenders can use those computers to access sexually graphic images. One-third of the offenses involve people masturbating while at computers. …. We repeatedly tried to get an interview with Chicago Public Library officials. Instead, a spokesperson gave us a statement [quoting] library policy.”

See that last sentence about clamming up and just quoting policy? What a coincidence. That’s the exact advice an ALA Councilor in Oak Lawn, IL, gave another ALA Councilor in St. Louis, MO, who was asking for help in putting down a local effort to restore local control to the public library. See “Who’s Controlling County Libraries: Taxpayers or the ALA? New Teen Sections at County Libraries Stocked with Sexually Explicit Materials,” by Dan Kleinman, St. Louis MetroVoice, 21 August 2008. Perhaps that policy hints at why the library and the DVD borrower have different stories.

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http://www.SafeLibraries.org
http://safelibraries.blogspot.com/

Right, Chuck, I agree. I
Right, Chuck, I agree. I just found it surprising to hear the harsh sentence she received for failure to return a DVD. Then I recalled that that was one of the libraries that refuses to call police on criminal activity arising out of usage of the unfiltered Internet computers.

I find it unbelievable that masturbators get off (meaning do not get any penalty) with the libraries blessing of a shield against police while that nice lady had her borrowing privileges revoked for a year. In the same library system, no less. That’s the point.

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http://www.SafeLibraries.org
http://safelibraries.blogspot.com/