The Chicago Public Library protects the open and rampant use of Internet pornography by library patrons. This blog is an attempt to bring awareness to this issue and enact change.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Common Sense, Welcome!

This great article, based out of Oregon, does a great job of laying out some of the basic arguments for keeping porn out of libraries. The author, Elizabeth Hovde, even provides some of the local history of this issue. It's a really great read.

Granted, it's an opinion article - published on Oregon Live as part of The Stump, "Oregon opinion articles, political commentary, cartoons and more" - so don't read this expecting a straight news article. But it's refreshing to find a columnist that uses common sense and doesn't hide behind the "censorship" scare tactics.

As Hovde states in her closing paragraph, "Limiting what's on the shelves -- or accessible on a public computer -- is not censorship. It's discretion. And pornography and other materials blocked... are still widely available for personal use and purchase elsewhere."

Here's a link to the article in it's entirety:
http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2009/07/sensible_censorship_surfing_fo.html
Read more!