Guest post by Bill Hennessy at Hennessy’s View
Missouri’s Secretary of State wants to block taxpayer funding for libraries that provide pornography and erotica to children, but St. Louis County Public Library wants to keep on grooming.
Parents in Missouri and around the country risk FBI harassment to force public schools to remove sexually explicit material from public schools. But protecting children from groomers and predators is like playing whack-a-mole. Now that irate parents have seized control of school boards, public libraries are filling the gap of supplying filth to minors without parental consent.
Missouri’s Secretary of State, Jay Ashcroft, has issued a proposed order that blocks public funding to libraries unless the libraries certify in writing the following:
(A) The library has or will adopt a written, publicly-accessible collection development policy addressing how selections are made in considering the appropriateness for the age and maturity level ofany minor, as defined in 15 CSR 30-200.030(1)(E), who accesses any material in any form;
(B) No funds received shall be used to purchase or acquire materials in any form that appeal to the prurient interest ofany minor;
(C) The library has or will adopt a written, publicly-accessible policy allowing any minor’s parent or guardian to determine what materials and access will be available to a minor, and no person employed by or acting on behalf of the library shall knowingly grant access to any minor any material in any form not approved by the minor’s parent or guardian;
(D) No agc-inappropriate materials in any form, as defined in the library’s collection development policy, shall be knowingly displayed in the library in areas designated by the library as containing materials predominantly for minors;
(E) No event or presentation shall be held at the library without an age-appropriate designation affixed toany publication, website, or advertisement for such event or presentation; and
(F) The library has or will adopt a written, publicly-accessible library materials challenge policy by which any person may dispute or challenge the library’s age-appropriate designation affixed to any presentation, event, material, or displayin the library, and the results of any such dispute or challenge shall be disclosed to the public and published on the library’s website.
(2) The library shall submit a copy of its written policies to the state librarian, and shall submit, within thirty (30) days, any revisions to such policies to the state librarian.
Read the entire piece.
To any responsible parent or taxpayer, these minimal standards of child protection are both necessary and overdue. In fact, Missouri’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education should issue a similar rule regarding public schools. Why should God-fearing Missourians fund pornography? Again, no reasonable person would object to protecting children from pornography and erotica.
Apparently, there are no reasonable people at the St. Louis County Library Board of Trustees, because they’ve launched a campaign to block Ashcroft’s rule.
In an email to all library-card holders, the County library complains:
The rule states, in part, that “no funds received shall be used to purchase or acquire materials in any form that appeal to the prurient interest of any minor.”
That’s the part they object to? That’s what the intolerable part of the rule? St. Louis County Public Library Board must take great pleasure in appealing to children’s prurient interests, because the Library’s board passed a resolution opposing any efforts to keep pornographic material away from your kids:
Opposition to 15 CSR 30-200.015. In consideration of the proposed administrative rule that would restrict state funding to public libraries based on certain requirements as stated in 15 CSR 30-200.015, the Board hereby urges the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules to reject 15 CSR 30-200.015
The Board goes on to demand sole and total authority to determine what material is appropriate for your children:
The Board believes that policy and collection development decisions should remain at the discretion of the local library board, as permitted by Missouri Statute.
In other words, the Library wants to do whatever it pleases, and it demands that you, the Missouri taxpayer, fund those activities and policies.
Sorry, folks. If you want money from the people of Dent County, you’ll adhere to rules of the State of Missouri. If the St. Louis County Library Board of Trustees is hellbent on feeding sexually explicit material to kids, they’ll have to find another source of funding. Why should God-fearing Missourians fund this child abuse?
Most of the email is a self-congratulatory list of how wonderful the Library is, but its call-to-action is straight forward, and you can support the rule to protect children from pornography by submitting your comments:
A 30-day public comment period regarding the rule is open from November 15-December 15. If you are interested in submitting a comment you can do so by the methods below:
- By email to [email protected]. Type the proposed rule number, 15 CSR 30-200.015, in the subject field.
- By mail to Missouri Secretary of State, P.O. Box 1767, Jefferson City, MO 65102.
We would like to thank the St. Louis County Public Library board for providing our readers with the addresses to express our strongest support for the proposed rule. They’ve even reminded us to include Rule Number 15 CSR 30-200.015 in the subject line.
While we’re making our views known, we might even consider dropping a polite but clear line to the St. Louis County Public Library Board.
hone: 314-994-3300
Text: 314-309-23331
Write:
St. Louis County Library1412 S. Spoede Rd.St. Louis, MO 63131-2557
Finally, kudos and thanks to Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft for proposing this rule. It’s up to us, the people, to support it. We are winning, and the unreasonable reaction by the St. Louis County Library’s Board proves it. Support Rule Number 15 CSR 30-200.015