My Letters to the CPL Board of Directors

A similar letter was sent to each of the seven members of the CPL Board of Directors, complete with enclosures of current Public Computer Use Policies for various cities across our country.

October 17, 2008

Jane Carr Thompson
Board of Directors, President
Chicago Public Library
Commissioner’s Office, 10N
400 S. State St.
Chicago, IL 60605

Dear President Thompson:
I am a proud resident of Chicago and an appreciator of public libraries. Although I’ve recently obtained my own Chicago Public Library card, I am not new to public libraries and have been a patron of this wonderful resource since childhood. However, an alarming issue regarding the CPL has jolted me into action recently – the use of Internet pornography in the Harold Washington branch.

I was first made aware of this issue a few weeks ago while visiting the library to help friends of mine use the computers. From where I was sitting I noticed several patrons openly using Internet pornography. In spite of privacy screens, I was able to see, without effort, obscene and graphic sex acts being displayed on several screens. The circumstances truly made me feel that I was in a sexually threatening environment. After inquiring about the policies for computer use, I was told by a librarian that patron use of pornography in Chicago Public Libraries is a “Right”. I was also told that I was not allowed to politely tell these patrons that I was offended or ask them to stop because “it might offend them”. I am embarrassed that the CPL protects the open use of hard-core pornography by patrons.

According to Chicago Ordinance 2-64-020, the Board of Directors has the authority to govern the library as they see fit. I’m writing this letter to ask you to ban pornography from open and public areas in the Chicago Public Library system in order to maintain a safe and non-threatening environment for everyone.

I understand that this issue is not new to Chicago and I’m sure you’ve faced it before. However, it is possible to maintain a public library that supports Intellectual Freedom that is also a safe and non-threatening environment for everyone to work and live in. Cities across our nation are dealing with the same issue of censorship versus pornographic obscenity in our public libraries and many cities have devised working solutions to this issue. Enclosed are several Public Computer User Agreement Policies from a variety of cities and libraries for your reference.

Letters similar to this one are being sent to the other members on the Board of Directors. It is your responsibility to provide a safe and non-threatening public library environment for EVERYONE. I ask that you address this issue with the Board at the earliest possible meeting, and I urge you to consider implementing any combination of the many enclosed examples of solutions for this issue that are successfully in use in public libraries across our nation.

Sincerely,
Amanda Bratschie


Enclosures

2-64-020 Board of directors – Statutory authority.
The board of directors provided for by statute and appointed in accordance therewith shall have control and management of all matters pertaining to the Chicago Public Library in accordance with the provisions of the Illinois Local Library Act, as amended. The board shall have the authority to rent out rooms and space within library buildings for private use, but in no event shall any such rental exceed one day or be for the purpose of sale of any thing or service to library patrons, except with the prior approval of the city council. The form of such rental agreements shall be subject to approval of the corporation counsel. The board in its bylaws may impose reasonable fees for the borrowing of films and recordings, as well as reasonable charges for the late return or failure to return library materials of any nature. Nothing in this section or in the bylaws of the board prohibits or restricts the right of the city to prosecute any person under Sections 2-64-040 and 2-64-050 of this Code.
(Prior code § 23-2; Amend Coun. J. 11-17-93, p. 42192)

For the purposes of the blog, the following Public Computer Use Policies were enclosed in the letters:
Boston Globe article, "Libraries Vary in Strategy on Porn"
New York Public Library
Concord Public Library
Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library
Minneapolis Public Library
Chicago Heights Public Library