Former library board member confirms aldermen's decision

Glad I didn't have to say more. This is exactly why she is no longer a library board member.

Mary Reilly-Kliss, WB News, 04/23/2009:

"If by moving materials we limit access, we deny patrons of their right to free
access of information and are in danger of encroaching upon a core value of our
democracy: intellectual freedom."

By having children walk to a different area of the library so ALL children don't have to view sexually explicit material (intentionally or UNintentionally),this denies access? This keeps them from checking it out? The kids in our city get more exercise in gym class than this.

"Directional labels such as those for the Dewey Decimal System or fictional
genres are entirely appropriate for a library, but value-based
labels intended to alert patrons to the language, themes or content
of a book are not."

Value-based? So is that the determining factor on explicit music CDs and movie media? If Ms. Reilly-Kliss believes that the excerpts she sees when clicking on the links to the left are appropriate for our community's children, then she has done us all a favor and confirmed what our city aldermen have decided. She does not represent our community. Our standards for our children are higher than this. And we want our tax dollars spent on materials of much higher quality. Truly this is a reasonable request.

FYI:

WRITTEN ON ANOTHER BLOG (the first one is BEFORE the board meeting):

Mary Reilly-Kliss 4 days ago
Kudos to all of you for stepping up and speaking out on this issue, and to Maria for the petition. I have sent an 'op-ed' type piece to the Daily News, but it has not yet been published. I will try and post it here or elsewhere on the web if it appears that it will not be published by the end of the coming week. I have just returned from a few days in Washington D.C. and I cannot tell you how many times I thought about this West Bend scenario as I visited the Library of Congress. When Thomas Jefferson offered his collection of books to the government, a controversy arose because it contained books written in foreign languages and also books which, at the time, were not thought of as necessary for a legislative library. Jefferson's wishes prevailed, and the history lesson here is that libraries must be inclusive, and, in our situation, shelved without prejudicial labels. Good Luck with the petition drive. Mary Reilly-Kliss WBCML Board Member

Mary Reilly-Kliss 2 days ago
FYI- At a meeting just completed, The West Bend Common Council did not approve the reappointment of the four WBCML Board members whose terms were up. If you believe that the board members have been doing their jobs you may want to contact your alderperson to find out the reason for his/her vote.