This is a great article on an important topic but my short answer is this:
“Beyond limits set by the existing laws of the land, no one should have right to tell anyone else what they can read/watch/listen to. Period.”
To expand on this a bit…
I’ve seen patrons watching things that are a lot more offensive than porn (to me anyhow) in public libraries – everything from beheading videos to videos of deer being gutted (more disgusting than offensive) to sexist rap videos.
And I’m rational enough to realise that just as patrons will have various reasons for watching any of those other types of videos, it’s not part of my job to make judgements about their information seeking behaviours. In fact, it’s the opposite – my job is to facilitate access to information – whatever that information might be.
As is pointed out in the article, that lack of judgement at the public library may be the only place a patron finds that – for example, a closeted homosexual teen in a conservative small town.
Anyhow, this is a topic that regularly bubbles up in public libraries and it’s a shame that there seems to be a growing trend of libraries/librarians caving on the subject by installing filters (which often don’t work) or developing poorly worded Internet access policies.
