In a prior blog comment, Maria Hanrahan (WBPFFS), West Bend Parents for Free Sex, um, I mean Free Speech (ooops, sorry 'bout that) stated about the ALA Conference:
"No trash talking about West Bend will occur, contrary to Ruth's and WBCFSL's comments."
According to the WB News today, that was not exactly a truthful statement WAS IT?.....
"Five representatives of the West Bend Community Memorial Library expressed some frustration with the media, but said their actions were vindicated with the way the fiery issue of books that dealt with homosexuality and teenagers played itself out last month."
AND
"It was a rough process at times as the Library Board had to be careful in its response in accordance to open meeting laws as well as advice from the city attorney, officials said Monday."
AND
“We felt very hamstrung by the idea that we had to stick to library procedures because the minute you step away from library procedures and start to acquiesce to ad hoc complaints, then you lose control of how things function at your institution,” said Barbara Deters, Library Board president."
AND
"Representatives of the board vented some frustration Monday with the way the local and national media covered the story, citing inaccurate coverage."
AND
“The blogs tend to be more inflammatory than effective,” said Mary Reilly-Kliss..."
AND
"Library Director Michael Tyree echoed that sentiment."
AND
“This has shown me that sensationalism and catchy sound bites are the things that reach the editor and takes over talk radio,” he said. “Rational discourse does not sell.”
Uh huh. Right.
Showing posts with label ala american library association westBend officeofintellectualfreedom mariaHanrahan WestBendParentsForFreeSpeech ALAConference MichaelTyree KristinPekoll MaryReilly-Kliss BarbaraDeters. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ala american library association westBend officeofintellectualfreedom mariaHanrahan WestBendParentsForFreeSpeech ALAConference MichaelTyree KristinPekoll MaryReilly-Kliss BarbaraDeters. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Monday, July 13, 2009
ALA Conference - Chicago - West Bend Going Down
Yes, West Bend - TODAY.
These are YOUR librarians and YOUR mayoral appointed Library Board PRESIDENT telling ALA conference participants how they shut YOU down.
Yes, indeed.
HERE'S A SHOUT OUT TO WEST BEND!
A SPECIAL PANEL, JUST TO TALK ABOUT WEST BEND! THANK YOU FOR YOUR SOLID REPRESENTATION, MAYOR DEISS. NICE LIBRARIANS.
PARENTS, BE FOREWARNED - THESE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO CHOOSE BOOKS FOR YOUR CHILDREN. THEY ARE THE LIBRARIAN CENSORS WHO HAVE REMOVED ALL COMMUNITY STANDARDS AND ARE, INSTEAD, IMPARTING ALA STANDARDS THAT PUT BOOKS CONTAINING CRUDE AND RAUNCHY SEX ACTS IN THEM FOR ALL CHILDREN ONTO THE SHELVES, CLASSIFIED FOR YOUNG ADULTS NONETHELESS, AT YOUR WEST BEND COMMUNITY MEMORIAL LIBRARY. YES, ALL CHILDREN! YOURS, MINE...THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY THEY SERVE! THEY ARE THE CENSORS. THEY CHOOSE.
DIRECT FROM THE ALA SCHEDULE:
Book Challenges in West Bend, Wisconsin
Session Time: 11:30 am CDT/ 12:30 pm EDT/ 10:30 am MDT/ 9:30 am PDT
Book Challenges in West Bend, Wisconsin
Meet the librarians and community members who are fighting to keep library materials on the shelves in West Bend, Wis. at this year’s American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference in Chicago. A special panel sponsored by the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF), Intellectual Freedom Committee and Freedom to Read Foundation will feature West Bend Community Library Director Michael Tyree, Young Adult Librarian Kristin Pekoll, library board President Barbara Deters, former library board Member Mary Reilly-Kliss and community organizer Maria Hanrahan.
HOW EXCITING! MARIA HANRAHAN IS INCLUDED AS A ....WHAT??? AN ORGANIZER? THAT IS HER QUALIFICATION? INTERESTING!
WEST BEND, WHO WILL ANSWER THIS?
1. Are YOUR librarians using vacation pay for this opportunity to talk negatively about YOUR community?
2. On WHOSE time was their presentation prepared? On YOUR tax dollar, so they can DIS YOU at the conference?
HERE IS AN EYE OPENER FOR YOU!
Libraries, Librarians, and America's War on Sex by Jen HammondOIF Blog1 July 2009
RIGHT NOW, YOUR LIBRARIANS ARE LEARNING WHAT THE ALA WANTS THEM TO KNOW:
"Come hear how to respond to the “protecting the children” arguments and how to protect everyone’s access to sexuality-related material." IN A CONFERENCE BY THE ABOVE AUTHOR!!! YES, THIS IS THE NEW AND IMPROVED COMMUNITY STANDARD SET BY YOUR LIBRARIANS AND THE ALA!
THIS IS SO DISTURBING, OUR CITY COUNCIL SHOULD BE LAYING THE SMACK DOWN WITH THE MAYOR AS TO WHY THIS IS BEING ALLOWED.
ALA BRAINWASHING. NICE AND GENTLE. EASY DOES IT. LIBRARIAN BORG.
These are YOUR librarians and YOUR mayoral appointed Library Board PRESIDENT telling ALA conference participants how they shut YOU down.
Yes, indeed.
HERE'S A SHOUT OUT TO WEST BEND!
A SPECIAL PANEL, JUST TO TALK ABOUT WEST BEND! THANK YOU FOR YOUR SOLID REPRESENTATION, MAYOR DEISS. NICE LIBRARIANS.
PARENTS, BE FOREWARNED - THESE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO CHOOSE BOOKS FOR YOUR CHILDREN. THEY ARE THE LIBRARIAN CENSORS WHO HAVE REMOVED ALL COMMUNITY STANDARDS AND ARE, INSTEAD, IMPARTING ALA STANDARDS THAT PUT BOOKS CONTAINING CRUDE AND RAUNCHY SEX ACTS IN THEM FOR ALL CHILDREN ONTO THE SHELVES, CLASSIFIED FOR YOUNG ADULTS NONETHELESS, AT YOUR WEST BEND COMMUNITY MEMORIAL LIBRARY. YES, ALL CHILDREN! YOURS, MINE...THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY THEY SERVE! THEY ARE THE CENSORS. THEY CHOOSE.
DIRECT FROM THE ALA SCHEDULE:
Book Challenges in West Bend, Wisconsin
Session Time: 11:30 am CDT/ 12:30 pm EDT/ 10:30 am MDT/ 9:30 am PDT
Book Challenges in West Bend, Wisconsin
Meet the librarians and community members who are fighting to keep library materials on the shelves in West Bend, Wis. at this year’s American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference in Chicago. A special panel sponsored by the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF), Intellectual Freedom Committee and Freedom to Read Foundation will feature West Bend Community Library Director Michael Tyree, Young Adult Librarian Kristin Pekoll, library board President Barbara Deters, former library board Member Mary Reilly-Kliss and community organizer Maria Hanrahan.
HOW EXCITING! MARIA HANRAHAN IS INCLUDED AS A ....WHAT??? AN ORGANIZER? THAT IS HER QUALIFICATION? INTERESTING!
WEST BEND, WHO WILL ANSWER THIS?
1. Are YOUR librarians using vacation pay for this opportunity to talk negatively about YOUR community?
2. On WHOSE time was their presentation prepared? On YOUR tax dollar, so they can DIS YOU at the conference?
HERE IS AN EYE OPENER FOR YOU!
Libraries, Librarians, and America's War on Sex by Jen HammondOIF Blog1 July 2009
RIGHT NOW, YOUR LIBRARIANS ARE LEARNING WHAT THE ALA WANTS THEM TO KNOW:
"Come hear how to respond to the “protecting the children” arguments and how to protect everyone’s access to sexuality-related material." IN A CONFERENCE BY THE ABOVE AUTHOR!!! YES, THIS IS THE NEW AND IMPROVED COMMUNITY STANDARD SET BY YOUR LIBRARIANS AND THE ALA!
THIS IS SO DISTURBING, OUR CITY COUNCIL SHOULD BE LAYING THE SMACK DOWN WITH THE MAYOR AS TO WHY THIS IS BEING ALLOWED.
ALA BRAINWASHING. NICE AND GENTLE. EASY DOES IT. LIBRARIAN BORG.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Citizen angry librarians set to "trash talk" West Bend
Just wondering.....are the librarians taking vacation time to attend this conference? Just a thought. No big deal.
WEST BEND DAILY NEWS, 07/09/09
OPINION PAGE
Paid to trash talk city
It is time for the citizens of West Bend to address Mayor Kristine Deiss and ask her why she is allowing our paid community representatives, library director Michael Tyree and young adult librarian Kristin Pekoll as well as her appointed Library Board member Barbara Deters, the president nonetheless, to trash-talk West Bend at the American Librarian Associations upcoming conference.
Taxpayers should be outraged that the librarians are putting together power points and such to show the nation how they stomped on our community standards and shut down the community they promise to serve.
We are tired of being told that the American Library Association can tell West Bend what they can do.
We cannot, and will not, stand for this next round of ammunition being shot at our fine city.
We believe the youth in West Bend are worth every step of this fight, and the ALA , our librarians, and our mayor need to uphold the high standards we demand.
___________________
SO DO WE.
WEST BEND DAILY NEWS, 07/09/09
OPINION PAGE
Paid to trash talk city
It is time for the citizens of West Bend to address Mayor Kristine Deiss and ask her why she is allowing our paid community representatives, library director Michael Tyree and young adult librarian Kristin Pekoll as well as her appointed Library Board member Barbara Deters, the president nonetheless, to trash-talk West Bend at the American Librarian Associations upcoming conference.
Taxpayers should be outraged that the librarians are putting together power points and such to show the nation how they stomped on our community standards and shut down the community they promise to serve.
We are tired of being told that the American Library Association can tell West Bend what they can do.
We cannot, and will not, stand for this next round of ammunition being shot at our fine city.
We believe the youth in West Bend are worth every step of this fight, and the ALA , our librarians, and our mayor need to uphold the high standards we demand.
___________________
SO DO WE.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Mark Belling Transcript on West Bend Open Records Request
I enjoyed listening to the podcast (again) tonight from Mark Belling's show from June 19. I thought it might be more advantageous for some if I typed the transcripts so.....here goes!
(Long...but interesting read!)
Mark Belling Show, June 19, Hour 1, Part 2:
"First, I have to give you the background on the story. It's one that we've been touching on every now and then on the show because it shows the level of arrogance that some public officials, primarily liberal, show when the… when the citizenry tries to show a little bit of activism and wants input into their government. It's the West Bend Library Board, and for those of you who haven’t been following, here's the short version. People found out months ago that in the gay books section of the children's section of the library are some very lurid books. I've read the passages from some of them and I've read a portion from them on the air before I had to stop because they were way too filthy for me to run on this radio station without us losing our license. I've undergone the mandatory training that ClearChannel gives on what material is too raunchy to put on the radio plus my own standards about how low were gonna go here, and I couldn’t come close to reading this filth on the air, that's how bad it is. So these people said “we want you to move this to the adult section of the library.” They didn't say burn it, just move it to the adult section. The Library Board up there has consistently refused to do it. They just won't do it. People have passed petitions and so on and so on. In the meantime, in the middle of all of this, some of the people who wanted the books moved filed an open records request to get the emails of all the library board members and the emails they've been sending back and forth on this issue. The Library Board has said ‘we don't want to do it’! Whoa! You're public officials! Emails sent to or from a public official are a public record under the law; black letter law. The city attorney in West Bend said ‘well, yeah, you gotta, you gotta release these. Any email sent to a library board member, any email sent , and you can't talk to yourselves in private about this.’ I mean, this is the law! Well they don't like the fact the city attorney told them this. So last night they held a meeting and they voted seven to nothing to hire a private attorney, because they want another opinion. Someone suggested well why don't you just ask the state attorney general's office since we have….the taxpayers are already paying numerous lawyers whose job it is to advise the local government on what the open records law is...... why don’t we just ask the attorney general. Well no, we don't wanna do that. So they went out and they're hiring a private attorney -- $250 an hour. It gets more unbelievable than that! They are going to pay for it out of the library’s endowment! That’s right! Those of you in West Bend who have donated money to the library over the years, your donated funds that you thought you were donating for the purchase of library materials, is going to be used so these board members can hire a lawyer to try to find somebody who will tell them that they don’t have to follow the law! Do you know what the great irony is here, and this actually is ironic, unlike most things that I claim to be, ….the same library board that says it is standing up for the right for teenagers to see gay porn, is fighting the rights of the citizens to see public records. THINK ABOUT THAT!
They are more concerned about the rights of teenagers to read gay porn than they are about the rights of the public to see public records! You talk about upside down! It shows you that these people these people are nuts!
That… whatever first amendment beliefs they claim that they were standing up for are shot by the fact that they…don’t…Y’know, some of them are saying “we never knew that our emails…” C’mon, you didn’t know your emails were public records? What are you talkin’ about? If they destroyed any of them, they have clearly violated the law. Well, given the fact that they are obviously obsessed with not releasing their emails or any other public records, me, the jerk, but an ethical jerk, got involved in the following way. I sent out two letters and faxed them this morning.
The first one was sent to Kris Diess, who is the mayor of the city of West Bend and is the one who appoints library members and who is at the root of the problem here with her complete lack of leadership and her inability to control board members who are her appointees. I wrote as follows…
Ms. Deiss,
This is a request for records under the Wisconsin Open Records Act and the United States Freedom of Information Act (You may wonder why do I include the US Freedom of Information Act. The library receives federal funds and therefore is required to follow not only Wisconsin’s open records law, they are required to follow the US Freedom of Information Act)
I request ..
a) copies of all correspondence, including faxes or emails, to or from you and any employee of the west bend library or member of the library board from June 1st 2008 to the present date.
b) copies of all correspondence, including faxes or emails, to or from you to any other city official dealing with any library issue from June 1st 2008 to the present date.
c) copies of all correspondence, including faxes or emails, to or from anyone on your staff or yourself from any member of the public dealing with any library issue from June 1st 2008.
I am sure you are aware of the legal requirement to save all emails. The above request covers any email account you have access to. Contact ..and email that….Signed, Mark Belling and I dated it today’s date, June 19th.
Then I cranked out another one. This one is to the chairman of the library board, Barbara Deters, who we hear on the sly is a big-time lefty and a former teacher’s union member. What a surprise that is, Paul! Just shocking that this is a liberal here. Again, dated June 19, 2009.
Ms. Deters,
This is a request for records under the Wisconsin Open Records Act and the US Freedom of Information Act.
I request:
a) Copies of all correspondences, including, but not limited to, faxes and email to or from you dealing with anything related to content of library materials or placement thereof from June 1st 2008 to the present date.
b) Copies of all correspondences, including, but not limited to, faxes and email to or from you to any other member of the West Bend library board on any matter directly or indirectly related to the library or the library boad from June 1st to the present date.
c) Copies of all correspondence including, but not limited to, faxes and email to or from you to any official of the City of West Bend relating to placement or content of library materials from June 1st 2008 to the present date.
I am sure you are aware of court rulings and State Department of Justice opinion requiring all public officials to maintain all emails.
This request covers any email account you have access to.
I formally note that Clearchannel Communications and myself intend to file a civil complaint with the Washington County DAs office if there is any evidence that any of the above material has been destroyed. Signed, Mark Belling
Ha! Ha! Well. They don’t want to release public records? Let’s put them on a public records snipe hunt! Find out exactly what it is that they don’t want the public to see..and if they’ve been deleting emails, if they’ve been getting from one another on this issue, I do intend to tell the Washington County District Attorney’s office and I do intend to pursue civil action against them because that is a blatant violation of the law.These people are trying to hide something here.
There is no reason not to release public records unless there is something in those records you don’t like.
Put it this way. Lets imagine you’re the mayor of Waupaca, Wisconsin, (I don’t know even know if they have a mayor there. They might have a chairman or a village president or whatever) ..suppose you’re the mayor of Waupaca, Wisconsin, and suppose somebody asks you, creates a public records request, for all correspondences that you have had over the construction of a new street in downtown Waupaca. You have 3 correspondences and they are all simply emails to the project works director on “how’s the project going” and nothing damning in there. You’ll respond to that and comply right away. There’s nothing bad.. I got nothing to hide…. You put it out.
When do you refuse to comply? When there’s something to hide, old lady Deters and old lady Deiss! (chuckles)..there’s something out there they don’t want out.
So I’m making a pretty broad request and if they thought it was a pain in the patoot to respond to the open records request of these poor little citizens out there, let them deal with me, a pro at this stuff. If you’re going to go out there and kick in the teeth citizens who are trying to be involved in their government because you’re too pigheaded and arrogant to make a simple solution of moving the books 50 feet to the other section of the library and you’re going to go out and try to deny basic access to public records, government records, the only way we, the citizens can have a check on government… yeah, I’m going to get involved.
Do..Is.. most of my audience care about this, no. But it’s interesting enough that I think that you can actually see how some of these smaller community governments actually operate and, yes, we’re going to make these people run around like chickens with their heads cut off to comply with your request. Or, they’re going to have to fess up and acknowledge that they may have destroyed something."
I like how Mark points out that the board is very willing to spend ENDOWMENT MONEY for advice they can get for free!
Since this show took place, library board president, Barbara Deters, had her chat with Attorney Feind and learned that our city attorney was right after all - no charge. I'll bet a lot of donors are RELIEVED.
(Long...but interesting read!)
Mark Belling Show, June 19, Hour 1, Part 2:
"First, I have to give you the background on the story. It's one that we've been touching on every now and then on the show because it shows the level of arrogance that some public officials, primarily liberal, show when the… when the citizenry tries to show a little bit of activism and wants input into their government. It's the West Bend Library Board, and for those of you who haven’t been following, here's the short version. People found out months ago that in the gay books section of the children's section of the library are some very lurid books. I've read the passages from some of them and I've read a portion from them on the air before I had to stop because they were way too filthy for me to run on this radio station without us losing our license. I've undergone the mandatory training that ClearChannel gives on what material is too raunchy to put on the radio plus my own standards about how low were gonna go here, and I couldn’t come close to reading this filth on the air, that's how bad it is. So these people said “we want you to move this to the adult section of the library.” They didn't say burn it, just move it to the adult section. The Library Board up there has consistently refused to do it. They just won't do it. People have passed petitions and so on and so on. In the meantime, in the middle of all of this, some of the people who wanted the books moved filed an open records request to get the emails of all the library board members and the emails they've been sending back and forth on this issue. The Library Board has said ‘we don't want to do it’! Whoa! You're public officials! Emails sent to or from a public official are a public record under the law; black letter law. The city attorney in West Bend said ‘well, yeah, you gotta, you gotta release these. Any email sent to a library board member, any email sent , and you can't talk to yourselves in private about this.’ I mean, this is the law! Well they don't like the fact the city attorney told them this. So last night they held a meeting and they voted seven to nothing to hire a private attorney, because they want another opinion. Someone suggested well why don't you just ask the state attorney general's office since we have….the taxpayers are already paying numerous lawyers whose job it is to advise the local government on what the open records law is...... why don’t we just ask the attorney general. Well no, we don't wanna do that. So they went out and they're hiring a private attorney -- $250 an hour. It gets more unbelievable than that! They are going to pay for it out of the library’s endowment! That’s right! Those of you in West Bend who have donated money to the library over the years, your donated funds that you thought you were donating for the purchase of library materials, is going to be used so these board members can hire a lawyer to try to find somebody who will tell them that they don’t have to follow the law! Do you know what the great irony is here, and this actually is ironic, unlike most things that I claim to be, ….the same library board that says it is standing up for the right for teenagers to see gay porn, is fighting the rights of the citizens to see public records. THINK ABOUT THAT!
They are more concerned about the rights of teenagers to read gay porn than they are about the rights of the public to see public records! You talk about upside down! It shows you that these people these people are nuts!
That… whatever first amendment beliefs they claim that they were standing up for are shot by the fact that they…don’t…Y’know, some of them are saying “we never knew that our emails…” C’mon, you didn’t know your emails were public records? What are you talkin’ about? If they destroyed any of them, they have clearly violated the law. Well, given the fact that they are obviously obsessed with not releasing their emails or any other public records, me, the jerk, but an ethical jerk, got involved in the following way. I sent out two letters and faxed them this morning.
The first one was sent to Kris Diess, who is the mayor of the city of West Bend and is the one who appoints library members and who is at the root of the problem here with her complete lack of leadership and her inability to control board members who are her appointees. I wrote as follows…
Ms. Deiss,
This is a request for records under the Wisconsin Open Records Act and the United States Freedom of Information Act (You may wonder why do I include the US Freedom of Information Act. The library receives federal funds and therefore is required to follow not only Wisconsin’s open records law, they are required to follow the US Freedom of Information Act)
I request ..
a) copies of all correspondence, including faxes or emails, to or from you and any employee of the west bend library or member of the library board from June 1st 2008 to the present date.
b) copies of all correspondence, including faxes or emails, to or from you to any other city official dealing with any library issue from June 1st 2008 to the present date.
c) copies of all correspondence, including faxes or emails, to or from anyone on your staff or yourself from any member of the public dealing with any library issue from June 1st 2008.
I am sure you are aware of the legal requirement to save all emails. The above request covers any email account you have access to. Contact ..and email that….Signed, Mark Belling and I dated it today’s date, June 19th.
Then I cranked out another one. This one is to the chairman of the library board, Barbara Deters, who we hear on the sly is a big-time lefty and a former teacher’s union member. What a surprise that is, Paul! Just shocking that this is a liberal here. Again, dated June 19, 2009.
Ms. Deters,
This is a request for records under the Wisconsin Open Records Act and the US Freedom of Information Act.
I request:
a) Copies of all correspondences, including, but not limited to, faxes and email to or from you dealing with anything related to content of library materials or placement thereof from June 1st 2008 to the present date.
b) Copies of all correspondences, including, but not limited to, faxes and email to or from you to any other member of the West Bend library board on any matter directly or indirectly related to the library or the library boad from June 1st to the present date.
c) Copies of all correspondence including, but not limited to, faxes and email to or from you to any official of the City of West Bend relating to placement or content of library materials from June 1st 2008 to the present date.
I am sure you are aware of court rulings and State Department of Justice opinion requiring all public officials to maintain all emails.
This request covers any email account you have access to.
I formally note that Clearchannel Communications and myself intend to file a civil complaint with the Washington County DAs office if there is any evidence that any of the above material has been destroyed. Signed, Mark Belling
Ha! Ha! Well. They don’t want to release public records? Let’s put them on a public records snipe hunt! Find out exactly what it is that they don’t want the public to see..and if they’ve been deleting emails, if they’ve been getting from one another on this issue, I do intend to tell the Washington County District Attorney’s office and I do intend to pursue civil action against them because that is a blatant violation of the law.These people are trying to hide something here.
There is no reason not to release public records unless there is something in those records you don’t like.
Put it this way. Lets imagine you’re the mayor of Waupaca, Wisconsin, (I don’t know even know if they have a mayor there. They might have a chairman or a village president or whatever) ..suppose you’re the mayor of Waupaca, Wisconsin, and suppose somebody asks you, creates a public records request, for all correspondences that you have had over the construction of a new street in downtown Waupaca. You have 3 correspondences and they are all simply emails to the project works director on “how’s the project going” and nothing damning in there. You’ll respond to that and comply right away. There’s nothing bad.. I got nothing to hide…. You put it out.
When do you refuse to comply? When there’s something to hide, old lady Deters and old lady Deiss! (chuckles)..there’s something out there they don’t want out.
So I’m making a pretty broad request and if they thought it was a pain in the patoot to respond to the open records request of these poor little citizens out there, let them deal with me, a pro at this stuff. If you’re going to go out there and kick in the teeth citizens who are trying to be involved in their government because you’re too pigheaded and arrogant to make a simple solution of moving the books 50 feet to the other section of the library and you’re going to go out and try to deny basic access to public records, government records, the only way we, the citizens can have a check on government… yeah, I’m going to get involved.
Do..Is.. most of my audience care about this, no. But it’s interesting enough that I think that you can actually see how some of these smaller community governments actually operate and, yes, we’re going to make these people run around like chickens with their heads cut off to comply with your request. Or, they’re going to have to fess up and acknowledge that they may have destroyed something."
I like how Mark points out that the board is very willing to spend ENDOWMENT MONEY for advice they can get for free!
Since this show took place, library board president, Barbara Deters, had her chat with Attorney Feind and learned that our city attorney was right after all - no charge. I'll bet a lot of donors are RELIEVED.
ALA rejects West Bend Community's conference request
I noted on the OIF blog that Deborah Caldwell-Stone had invited West Bend Community Memorial Library supporters to speak at the ALA conference in July.
Since I, too, am a supporter of the West Bend Library and advocate for a large group of parents in West Bend, I asked if she would consider me as well on her panel of speakers from West Bend.
I explained that West Bend Citizens for Safe Libraries, like the librarians in West Bend, also want to keep library materials on the shelves, and have confirmed this time and again.
WBCFSL feels that we have much in common with our librarians and West Bend Parents for Free Speech in this respect and would like to be allowed the same opportunities as those who are also leading our community, or providing advocacy in this manner.
This is her response to my request:
_____________________________________
I apologize for the delay in responding to your email. It was directed to my spam folder, and I did not discover it until yesterday.
ALA's Annual Conference is intended to provide professional development and educational opportunities for librarians, library trustees, library paraprofessionals, and "Friends of the Library" groups. The panel is not a debate on the merits of West Bend Citizens for Safe Libraries' challenge, or an opportunity for advocacy, but instead a discussion about policy development and management of challenges for the benefit of those four constituencies. We have invited panelists we believe will offer insights and advice on the topic that is consistent with the First Amendment and established ALA policies, such as the Library Bill of Rights and the ALA Code of Ethics.
Thank you for your interest in this program. Though the discussion you propose is outside the program's scope, I am sure there will be future opportunities for such a debate.
Deborah Caldwell-Stone
Acting Director
Office for Intellectual Freedom
American Library Association
50 East Huron, Chicago, IL 60611
800-545-2433
_______________________________________
Do you see where it says, "the controversy arose in February 2009 when a West Bend couple filed a request to reconsider books"? That's me, I'm part of that "West Bend couple." The ALA is talking about me. One would think the ALA would enjoy having me say something at the conference. I offered, but as you can see, my offer was not accepted.
Instead, the ALA has invited the person that arose to oppose protecting children from inappropriate material, but not me. What exactly is the point of the panel? So people will hear the "censorship" message from only the ALA's point of view? Even if they had me there as the person ALA tribes love to hate, at least that would be more open minded than just cutting out the "West Bend couple" that started it all. Is there nothing we could contribute to "a discussion about policy development and management of challenges"?
I do admit efforts to keep children from inappropriate material are not "consistent with ... established ALA policies, such as the Library Bill of Rights and the ALA Code of Ethics."
52.5.2 Sex Education Materials in Libraries
ALA affirms the right of youth to comprehensive, sex-related education, materials, programs, and referral services of the highest quality; affirms the active role of librarians in providing such; and urges librarians and library educators to reexamine existing policies and practices and assume a leadership role in seeing that information is available for children and adolescents, parents, and youth-serving professionals.
Sex-related materials! Active role! Leadership role! Of librarians! Available for children! Again, I admit efforts to keep children from inappropriate material are inconsistent with ALA policy. Apparently, that is why I have not been invited.
While Ms. Caldwell-Stone states that this panel will not be used as an "opportunity for advocacy," there can be no doubt that the City of West Bend will take a huge hit by the likes of Maria Hanrahan, who clearly opposes the community standards of West Bend, and will be presenting her story due to the generous offer from the ALA, an offer not extended to me.
Naturally, we can only assume that West Bend will be used/abused on a national forefront by the ALA as our very own Michael Tyree, WBCML director, Kristin Pekoll, YA librarian, Mary Reilly-Kliss (former board member) and library board president, Barbara Deters, proudly proclaim their pyrhhic victory over the community they live in, represent, and for some, are paid by.
Since I, too, am a supporter of the West Bend Library and advocate for a large group of parents in West Bend, I asked if she would consider me as well on her panel of speakers from West Bend.
I explained that West Bend Citizens for Safe Libraries, like the librarians in West Bend, also want to keep library materials on the shelves, and have confirmed this time and again.
WBCFSL feels that we have much in common with our librarians and West Bend Parents for Free Speech in this respect and would like to be allowed the same opportunities as those who are also leading our community, or providing advocacy in this manner.
This is her response to my request:
_____________________________________
I apologize for the delay in responding to your email. It was directed to my spam folder, and I did not discover it until yesterday.
ALA's Annual Conference is intended to provide professional development and educational opportunities for librarians, library trustees, library paraprofessionals, and "Friends of the Library" groups. The panel is not a debate on the merits of West Bend Citizens for Safe Libraries' challenge, or an opportunity for advocacy, but instead a discussion about policy development and management of challenges for the benefit of those four constituencies. We have invited panelists we believe will offer insights and advice on the topic that is consistent with the First Amendment and established ALA policies, such as the Library Bill of Rights and the ALA Code of Ethics.
Thank you for your interest in this program. Though the discussion you propose is outside the program's scope, I am sure there will be future opportunities for such a debate.
Deborah Caldwell-Stone
Acting Director
Office for Intellectual Freedom
American Library Association
50 East Huron, Chicago, IL 60611
800-545-2433
_______________________________________
Do you see where it says, "the controversy arose in February 2009 when a West Bend couple filed a request to reconsider books"? That's me, I'm part of that "West Bend couple." The ALA is talking about me. One would think the ALA would enjoy having me say something at the conference. I offered, but as you can see, my offer was not accepted.
Instead, the ALA has invited the person that arose to oppose protecting children from inappropriate material, but not me. What exactly is the point of the panel? So people will hear the "censorship" message from only the ALA's point of view? Even if they had me there as the person ALA tribes love to hate, at least that would be more open minded than just cutting out the "West Bend couple" that started it all. Is there nothing we could contribute to "a discussion about policy development and management of challenges"?
I do admit efforts to keep children from inappropriate material are not "consistent with ... established ALA policies, such as the Library Bill of Rights and the ALA Code of Ethics."
52.5.2 Sex Education Materials in Libraries
ALA affirms the right of youth to comprehensive, sex-related education, materials, programs, and referral services of the highest quality; affirms the active role of librarians in providing such; and urges librarians and library educators to reexamine existing policies and practices and assume a leadership role in seeing that information is available for children and adolescents, parents, and youth-serving professionals.
Sex-related materials! Active role! Leadership role! Of librarians! Available for children! Again, I admit efforts to keep children from inappropriate material are inconsistent with ALA policy. Apparently, that is why I have not been invited.
While Ms. Caldwell-Stone states that this panel will not be used as an "opportunity for advocacy," there can be no doubt that the City of West Bend will take a huge hit by the likes of Maria Hanrahan, who clearly opposes the community standards of West Bend, and will be presenting her story due to the generous offer from the ALA, an offer not extended to me.
Naturally, we can only assume that West Bend will be used/abused on a national forefront by the ALA as our very own Michael Tyree, WBCML director, Kristin Pekoll, YA librarian, Mary Reilly-Kliss (former board member) and library board president, Barbara Deters, proudly proclaim their pyrhhic victory over the community they live in, represent, and for some, are paid by.
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