ISSUES IDENTIFIED AT A PUBLIC FORUM ON CHILDREN'S ACCESS
JANUARY 29, 1993
VANCOUVER, WASHINGTON

POLICY COMMITTEE OF THE FORT VANCOUVER REGIONAL LIBRARY BOARD:
Dale Read, Jr., Chair; Klaras Ihnken, Liz McPherson

FORT VANCOUVER REGIONAL LIBRARY STAFF TO POLICY COMMITTEE:
Sharon Hammer, Library Director
Candace Morgan, Deputy Director/Community Library Services

FORT VANCOUVER REGIONAL LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES:
Art Hoisington, Chair; Liz McPherson, Vice-Chair; Letha Berg, Secretary;
Marilyn Breckel; Ellis Dunn; Klaras lhnken; Dale Read, Jr.

SUMMARY

On January 29, 1993, the Board of Trustees of the Fort Vancouver Regional Library sponsored a forum on children's access to library materials. The purpose of the forum was to examine ways the Library can work effectively with parents to help children use the Library in a way that conforms to the values of their own families.

Many changes in Library policy were recommended at the forum. The Policy Committee considered other possibilities as well. All of these possible changes are listed in this report, along with the Policy Committee recommendations. The Policy Committee members spent over 200 hours analyzing all of the suggested changes before making recommendations.

Throughout its deliberations, the Policy Committee had one overriding goal: to help families use the Library according to their own value systems without infringing on the rights of other families who may have different value systems.

As it went through the suggested changes, the Committee concluded that parents, not the Library , are ultimately responsible for how their own children use the Library. The Library, as a governmental agency, properly lacks the authority to impose moral values of any kind on its patrons, regardless of age. The Library is not a school and it is not a babysitting service. It is a repository of information designed to meet the needs of all members of the community regardless of age or ideology. By definition, some of that material will be objectionable to some members of the community -- perhaps even to the majority.

Parents, however, have the right to control access to library materials for their own children. The Library Board has expressed a strong interest in helping parents exercise that right without infringing on the rights of other members of the community. The Policy Committee has examined several things the Library might do to help parents control library access for their own children:

1. The Library could offer "juvenile-only" library cards, allowing check-out of materials from the juvenile collection only. Children wishing to check out material from other parts of the collection would have to ask their parents to check it out for them.
2. The Library could allow parents to submit a limited number of "forbidden" titles for each of their children. These titles could not be checked out on the child's library card.
3. The Library could facilitate a parent in prohibiting their child from having a personal library card.
4. The Library could offer a "family" card that would facilitate the parents' role in monitoring material their child is checking out of the Library.

Public comments did not support any of the possible changes. The Library Board voted to continue the current policy that parents and guardians are responsible for the selection choices of their own minor children. None of the proposed changes in Section I: Parental Control Issues were adopted.

Fort Vancouver Regional Library has traditionally upheld the private rights of everyone to read what they choose, regardless of their age. While the Library has helped parents guide the selection choices of their own minor children, it has remained completely neutral in the process. Each of the options would change that traditional neutral role of the Library. If any of the options are adopted, the Library, a governmental agency, would be assisting parents in enforcing their own family rules and values.

The process that began with the public forum and concludes with Board action on this report has been a constructive one. The Fort Vancouver Regional Library system, representing a diverse community, is committed to look for ways to serve all interests, without infringing on the rights of others, in order to better serve all the people of Southwest Washington.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Issue a juvenile-only Library card at the request of the child's parent.
Application for a juvenile-only card.
Use the computer to restrict minors' checkout by title at the request of the child's parent.
Application to restrict a child from checking out specific titles.
Prohibit a minor child from having a personal library card at the request of the child's parent.
Application to prohibit a minor child from having a personal library card.
Issue multiple "family" cards under a parent's name.
Application for a "family" card

SECTION 11: Selection Issues

Use taxpayers' money only for majority interests.
Have Southwest Washington Health District review sexual material for potentially dangerous behavior.
Do not use Library exemption contained in Washington State law.
Do not purchase pornography.
Use an "instructional materials selection committee" modeled on public school practice and law.
Establish a selection and/or materials review committee with citizen members.

SECTION III: Access Issues

Keep sensitive materials on a closed shelf.
Branch Librarians should be given authority to sequester portions of the collection in their community libraries.
Certain sexually explicit and alternative lifestyle material should be stored in the Headquarters building with access through computer reserves system only.
Establish a separate viewing area for adult explicit material.
Make the Children's Area off limits for adult explicit material.
Apprise parents of newly acquired sensitive material.
Restrict materials that retail establishments do not sell to minors.
Require parents to accompany their children to the Library if they wish for them to see sexually explicit material.
Establish a "kids only" time in the Library.
Rate and label books as is done for movies.
Eliminate 10 free reference copies.
Policy on Selection and Discarding of Materials

SECTION I: PARENTAL CONTROL ISSUES

The Library does not discriminate by age. All Library card holders have full and equal access to check out material in the collection. Parents are responsible for the reading and selection choices of their own minor children.

Reasons for Recommendation:

Although the issuance of juvenile-only cards allows parents to exert control over their own children's selection and checkout of materials, it also shifts the enforcement from the parent to the Library.

Parents should not attempt to transfer their responsibilities for the enforcement of family values to the Library. In the eyes of the minors who would be stopped at the circulation desk -- it would seem to be the Library itself -- not their parents, restricting their right to read.

A public library, whose obligation it is to provide equal access to all citizens, cannot justifiably take a position of refusing its services and materials to anyone.

Although libraries are government supported public institutions, open to everybody, the use of their facilities is entirely optional. Unlike public schools, no children are required to come into a library, examine what it can offer, or take home any of its materials for private use. Parents, therefore, who want to protect their children from ideas the parents believe the children are too immature to handle already have several available remedies. Parents can accompany their children to the Library and personally supervise their selections. Parents can instruct their children as to what kind of material should be avoided. As a last resort, parents can remove their children's library privileges and cancel their cards.

Restricting minors to juvenile materials would create a hardship in completing school research assignments.

Issuing juvenile-only library cards is a means of adhering to our policy of helping parents select and guide the reading materials for their own children. Since the Library expects the parents to be responsible for their own children, it should be open to assisting parents in enforcing standards they have set for their children.

Fort Vancouver Regional Library has frequently and forcefully maintained that parents should establish values and standards for their own children. The Library has long helped parents select, for their own children, those materials that support their family's values. The technology is now available in this library to limit a child to check out of juvenile materials only. Fort Vancouver Regional Library should honor a parent's request for a juvenile-only card. This would mean that the Library would have a new role in enforcing parental values. But, to refuse to do so would appear to be inconsistent with prior statements.

Children with a juvenile-only card could still use the Library to get more assistance with their homework assignments. Like any other patron in our branches, they can get photocopies of reference materials. Their parents could also allow them to use the parent's card to check out materials.

It is the policy of Fort Vancouver Regional Library that parents and guardians are responsible for the selection choices of their own minor children. The Library accepts no responsibility for enforcing what a parent may not want a child to see, read, or view while in the Library. However, at the request of a child's parent or legal guardian, the Library will issue a juvenile-only card to that child.

Before requesting a juvenile-only card for your child, it is important that you carefully read and understand what limitations this card will and will not place on your child's use of the Library. Please feel free to discuss this important decision with a librarian or library supervisor.

-- Limit the child to checking out only materials with a "J" (juvenile) or an "E" (easy) before the call number on the spine.

-- Remain in place until the child can prove that s/he is either 18, married, or a legally emancipated adult unless the restriction is removed by a parent.

-- Limit a child from viewing or copying library material that a parent may find objectionable because a library card is only used to check out materials.

-- Keep a child in the Library from ideas, pictures, subjects and/or concepts found in library material that the parent does not feel the child is ready for or which are different from the family's values.

-- The juvenile collection is intended for persons up to about age 16. You may feel that much of this material is not right for a younger child to read.

-- The juvenile collection has as full a variety of subjects, viewpoints and diversity as may be found in materials that are not marked "J" or "E."

-- Materials are selected for the juvenile collection based upon the reading levels and interests of children not on the content, subject matter, or viewpoint of the author.

-- Some parents may consider the illustrations and content of some juvenile material to be scary or otherwise not right for their children to read.

-- All non-fiction materials are shelved together. This is done so that children may find more materials for school assignments and so that adults may have the advantage of introductory materials.

-- The juvenile collection may not have enough books for your child to complete school assignments.

-- There may be books in the adult collection that your child could use for school assignments (i.e. a map of China, biographies of important people in history, pictures of animals). The Library will not be able to check these needed books out to your child with a juvenile-only card.

-- In accordance with Washington State law, all check-out records of all library patrons are confidential. The Library Will not tell a parent what a child has checked out on a juvenile-only card. This information may be found, however, by using the public catalog if the parent knows the child's bar code number.

-- The child may use another child's or family member's card to check out adult material without the knowledge of the parent or the Library.

-- The Library will not re-catalog to the adult collection books that are written for juveniles with a reading level below age 16 in order to prevent children with a juvenile-only card from checking them out.

-- Your child's library card will be a different color from other children's cards who are not restricted in their use.

-- The Library is subject to human and computer error and may check out an adult book to your child by mistake.

of ________________________________________________

(child's name)

Address __________________________________________________

Phone # ( )___________________________________

Child's birth date ____________________________________

Signed ___________________________________Date __________ Time _________

Name of parent or guardian _______________________________________________

(please print)

Address _______________________________________________

Phone # ( ____)__________________________________

The Library does not discriminate by age. Minors have full rights to books protected by the First Amendment. Only parents may abridge these rights for their own children.

Parents should not attempt to transfer their responsibilities for enforcement of family values to the Library. In the eyes of the minors who would be stopped at the circulation desk, it would seem to be not their parents, but the Library itself restricting their right to read.

A public library, whose obligation it is to provide equal access to all citizens, cannot justifiably take a position of refusing its services and materials to anyone.

Although libraries are government supported public institutions, open to everybody, the use of their facilities is entirely optional. Unlike public schools, no children are required to come into a library, examine what it can offer, or take home any of its materials for private use. Parents, therefore, who want to protect their children from ideas the parents believe the children are too immature to handle already have several available remedies. Parents can accompany their children to the Library and personally supervise their selections. Parents can instruct their children as to what kind of material should be avoided. As a last resort, parents can remove their children's library privileges and cancel their cards.

The Alternative Recommendation will not work on the Bookmobile because the Bookmobiles are not directly tied into the on-line system.

The Library computer system is not designed to restrict access to materials, and adopting the alternative recommendation presents practical problems: Either the person inputting the data or the one checking out materials may make an error. The message area used for listing restricted materials for a child cannot be sorted in alphabetical or numerical order by the computer. The list may be accidentally erased with one key stroke.

While the Alternative Recommendation gives the illusion of being a good solution, it may not be sufficient for the wants of the parent. One computer screen of titles (approximately 5) is all the Library can reasonably handle at the check out line.

This Alternative Recommendation is a means of adhering to our policy of helping parents select and guide the reading materials for their own children. Since the Library expects the parents to be responsible for their own children, it should be open to assisting parents in enforcing standards they have set for their children.

Fort Vancouver Regional Library has frequently and forcefully maintained that parents should establish values and standards for their own children. The Library has long helped parents select, for their own children, those materials that support their family's values. The technology is now available in this library to list one computer screen of "restricted" titles. Fort Vancouver Regional Library should honor a parent's request for prohibiting their child from checking out a limited list of specific titles. This would mean that the Library would have a new role in enforcing parental values. But, to refuse to do so would appear to be inconsistent with prior statements.

This Alternative Recommendation will allow parents to select approximately five specific titles they do not want their children to check out, without seriously impairing the children's ability to use the collection for school assignments and other purposes.

(SAMPLE DRAFT: Not Requiring Board Action)

It is the policy of Fort Vancouver Regional Library that parents and guardians are responsible for the selection choices of their own minor children. The Library accepts no responsibility for enforcing what a parent may not want a child to see, read, or view while in the Library.

However, the Library's computer system does make it possible for a parent or legal guardian to select one computer screen of titles (approximately 5) that their own child will be prohibited from checking out.

Before requesting a specific title prohibition, it is important that you carefully read and understand what this card will and will not do for your family. Please feel free to discuss this option with a librarian or library supervisor.

-- Keep your child from checking out the five specific titles you have selected.

-- Remain in place until the child can prove that s/he is 18, married, or a legally emancipated adult unless the restriction is removed or changed by a parent.

-- Limit a child from viewing or copying material from the titles on the "restricted" list while in the Library.

-- Make it possible to list more than five titles. The list of books that a child cannot check out must be compared with the titles a child wants to check out by the library employee working at the circulation desk. A library computer is not developed for restricting access to materials. The message area used for listing "restricted" materials cannot be sorted into alphabetical or call number order by the computer so it is only feasible to have one screen of titles.

-- Keep a child from using another person's library card to check out these materials.

-- Keep a child from checking out "restricted" books on the Bookmobile.

-- The "restricted" title list will be attached to the child's library card record, but the Library cannot be responsible if the child uses someone else's card to check out library materials.

-- In accordance with Washington State law, the check-out records of all library patrons are confidential. The Library will not tell a parent what a child has checked out. A parent must know the child's library card number in order to learn what the child has currently checked out.

-- The Library is subject to human and computer error and may accidentally check out a "restricted" list title to your child.

of____________________________________________

(child's name)

Address________________________________________

Phone # (___)__________________________

Child's birth date__________________________

1. _____________________________________________________

2. _____________________________________________________

3. _____________________________________________________

4. _____________________________________________________

5. _____________________________________________________

Signed ___________________________ Date ________Time_______

Name of parent or guardian________________________________________

(please print)

Address_________________________________________

Phone # ( ___)_________________________________________

Phone # ( )_____________________________________

Child's birth date_______________________________________

Signed _______________________________ Date ________Time_______

Name of parent or guardian______________________________________________

(please print)

Address___________________________________________

Phone # ( ___)________________________________

Any person in an area paying Library taxes, including any child with identification and able to sign their own name, may receive a private individual library card. A parent who has a library card may allow the child to use the parent's card.

The Library should not be in the business of enforcing family values, a responsibility which, by law, belongs to parents; nor should the Library deny children equal protection for the privacy of their reading choices.

This Recommendation provides confidentiality for each individual. Under the Alternative Recommendation, a family member with a library card and bar code number which is unique from other members of the family may assume they have private check-out records, but they would not. Any member of the family could use the computer to find out what library materials are on hold or checked out by all holders of "family" cards, and when they are due back.

Books reserved on an individual's library card are currently mailed to or held for that individual. The Alternative Resolution may cause confusion in the family as all holds will go to the parent. A family circulation record will not show the parent which individual within the family has placed a hold on library materials.

Each individual is currently responsible for returning their materials on time. Individuals who exceed library limits for overdue materials will lose their borrowing privileges. Under the Alternative Recommendation, all family members will be denied service if any member, or the family as a whole, has exceeded the Library's limits.

Under present policy, parents may instruct their children not to obtain library cards, or may request that a child's card be cancelled. They can already take out books for children on the parent's card. The Alternative Recommendation is therefore redundant.

Fort Vancouver Regional Library has frequently and forcefully maintained that parents should establish values and standards for their own children. The Library has long helped parents select, for their own children, those materials that support their family's values. The technology is now available in this library to provide families with a single record under the parent's name. Fort Vancouver Regional Library should honor a parent's request for "family" cards. This would mean that the Library would have a new role in enforcing parental values. But, to refuse to do so would appear to be inconsistent with prior statements.

Parents may decide which family members will and will not be included on the family circulation record. All included family members would have a card, thus allowing more than one family member at a time to use the "family" card at any branch library.

Adult family members and minor children not listed may have their own private library card.

All circulation records will be kept under the name of one family member and thus any member of the family can find out what library materials are on hold, are currently checked out and not returned, or when these materials are due back.

Parents and guardians could keep track of what library materials their minor children have currently checked out.

The parents, not the child, would be financially responsible for all materials checked out on any "family" card.

Upon a parent's request, children not yet able to sign their names could have "family" cards.

It is the policy of Fort Vancouver Regional Library that parents and guardians are responsible for the selection choices of their own minor children. The Library accepts no responsibility for enforcing what a parent may not want a child to see, read, or view while in the Library. The Library's computer system is designed to provide each family member with a separate confidential library card and borrowing record. However, at the request of a parent or legal guardian, the Library will issue a "family" card which will give the family a single combined borrowing record. This type of card may allow the parent to more closely monitor their own children's checkout of library materials.

Before requesting a family card, it is important that you carefully read and understand what this card will and will not do for your family. Please feel free to discuss this option with a librarian or library supervisor.

-- Each member of the family will have a card with a unique barcode number.

-- These numbers will be linked together in the computer into one "family" record under the name of the primary card holder.

-- A child will not be issued a separate card with a separate patron record until s/he can prove they are 18, married, or a legally emancipated adult unless the restriction is removed by a parent.

What this will do for the family:

-- A family card will allow parents to monitor their children's current check-out choices more easily.

-- All books currently checked out on the card will be clearly visible to any family members using the public catalog and the family card bar code number to check the record.

-- All family members will be able to place materials on hold but there will be no record of which family member placed the hold request. The hold book will be sent to the primary card holder.

-- The primary card holder will be held responsible for the overdues of all other family members.

-- All family members will be denied service if any member or the family as a whole has exceeded the Library's limits.

-- It will not provide a historical record of anything checked out by family members; the Library's records show only what is currently checked out at the moment that the patron record is looked up.

-- It will not prevent children from being able to use and check out the full range of materials available at the Library.

-- It will not prevent a child from using another person's card to check out material without the knowledge of the parent or the Library.

of _______________________________________________ of______________________________________________

(child's name) (child's name)

Child's birth date _______________________________ Child's birth date _______________________________

of _______________________________________________ of _______________________________________________

(child's name) (child's name)

Child's birth date _______________________________ Child's birth date _______________________________

of _______________________________________________ of _______________________________________________

(child's name) (child's name)

Child's birth date _______________________________ Child's birth date _______________________________

of _______________________________________________ of _______________________________________________

(child's name) (child's name)

Child's birth date _______________________________ Child's birth date _______________________________

Address ______________________________________

Phone # (___) _________________________________________________

Signed _________________________________ Date ______________Time _______________

Name of parent or guardian _________________________________________________

(please print)

Address ________________________________________________

Phone # ( )_______________________________________

____________________________________________

(name)

____________________________________________

(name)

*Adult family members and minor children not listed above may have their own private library card.

SECTION II: SELECTION ISSUES

The Fort Vancouver Regional Library is responsible for meeting the information needs of a large and diverse community. These needs cover a wide range of materials, topics, and viewpoints. Some materials will interest only a minority of our patrons.

The Library Board believes that persons in a democratic society can make informed judgments only when they have free and open access to comprehensive information.

The Library has an obligation to serve all members of the community, and not just the majority,

If possible, Fort Vancouver Regional Library purchases materials at the request of any patron.

If this proposal were adopted, portions of the public would be unserved and would be prevented from acquiring knowledge or pursuing their special interests.

Fort Vancouver Regional Library Board is legally responsible for the material in its collection. The Board has delegated this responsibility to its Director who reports and answers to the Board. The Library encourages public suggestions for items for inclusion in the collection and recognizes the right to question library materials.

Fort Vancouver Regional Library purchases many materials that explain safe sexual practices and warn about potentially dangerous behavior. It is the responsibility of patrons to use these and other materials to inform themselves to the degree they personally find necessary.

Any expert in any field of technical knowledge, as well as any patron, has the right under our policy to suggest or question materials in the collection. In any field of human knowledge experts consistently disagree. The Library could not choose one expert over another to approve its selection decisions.

We inquired of Southwest Washington Health District. They are unable to undertake this work in terms of time and staff, and believe it is not part of their Mission.

Fort Vancouver Regional Library does not rely upon the exemption in the selection of materials. Library Board Policy states that the Library collection will not include forms of expression that are unprotected by the First Amendment. Such unprotected forms of expression would include child pornography and materials that have been found to be obscene by a court of law with jurisdiction over Fort Vancouver Regional Library.

The exemption is not ours to apply. It is State law to be applied by State prosecutors and State judges who are sworn to uphold State law.

Even if we could, it would be irresponsible to give up the exemption because the Library would be liable for expensive litigation on a title-by-title basis.

The Library Board does not believe that anything in the collection would satisfy all three prongs of the legal test of "erotica" that cannot be sold to minors in Washington State Law (RCW 9.68.050 Sec. 2).

Fort Vancouver Regional Library does not purchase legally obscene materials or child pornography.

Unlike "obscenity," there is no specific legal definition of "pornography." Pornography is a matter of personal definition which the Library cannot make for individuals.

It is the responsibility of the Library to purchase controversial material that falls within the selection policy, so that an informed citizenry can make up its own mind.

Adoption of this proposal would force the Library to either: (a) accept as equally valid each patron's definition of pornography, thereby excluding many subject areas from the collection; or (b) arbitrarily accept the definition of just one patron or group.

SUGGESTED CHANGE: USE AN "INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS SELECTION COMMITTEE" MODELED ON PUBLIC SCHOOL PRACTICE AND LAW.

Fort Vancouver Regional Library selects a broad range of materials for patrons of all ages. It makes no attempt to limit its collection to curriculum-based materials.

The mission of K-12 public schools is purely educational and its selection of materials is primarily concerned with curriculum. The Mission of the public library is much broader.

A public school serves in loco parentis', and must by law have a selection review committee which includes citizen members. A public library has no such requirement because no child is compelled to come to the Library or to read any material in the collection.

Use of a public school standard would restrict the availability of books; for example, books advocating Christianity, other faiths, or a religious way of life would have to be removed from the collection.

A Materials Selection Committee would be very expensive and time-consuming, considering the large number of juvenile titles purchased each year by Fort Vancouver Regional Library.

Under present policy citizens are urged to request specific books not already in the collection and a method is provided by which they can question materials they consider inappropriate.

Another citizens committee would be redundant; the Library Board now consists of seven citizens legally charged with the selection and discarding of library materials. The Board regularly reviews the selection criteria and delegates selection to the staff.

'in loco parentis: in place of a parent; charged with a parent's rights, duties and responsibilities.

The Board delegates the selection of materials to the Library Director. Selection and discarding is done by professionals who respond to requests, review the collection as a whole, and are responsible for maintaining diversity in the subject areas in which they select. The Library's Review Committee does not select materials; it reviews challenged materials to determine if they have been appropriately selected under Board Policy.

Fort Vancouver Regional Library purchases approximately 20,000 new titles each year; it would be extremely expensive and time-consuming to have a citizen selection review committee consider each purchase. Specifically, many of our best-read titles are suggested by our patrons, do not appear in any book reviews, and would be out-of-print before a committee could take action.

It is the responsibility of the Library to have materials that represent the needs of the entire community and to protect the reading rights of the minority and majority.

Under present policy citizens are urged to request specific books not already in the collection, and a method is provided by which they can question materials they consider inappropriate. The decision to retain or remove a title is based upon whether the material was appropriately selected according to the Selection Policy.

Another citizens committee would be redundant; the Library Board now consists of seven citizens charged with the selection and discarding of library materials. The Board regularly reviews the selection criteria and delegates selection to the staff.

SECTION III: ACCESS ISSUES

No materials are sequestered based on controversy. Fragile, rare, time-valuable, and expensive materials may be restricted to in-Library use only.

The Fort Vancouver Regional Library cannot make value judgments on the appropriateness of materials for individual citizens or individual children. Only individual citizens can make such judgments for themselves, and only parents can make value judgements for their own children.

Should the Library sequester sexually explicit material, it would also need to respond to requests to sequester other materials which some other individuals find offensive (war, guns, certain religions, witches, vulgarity, historical viewpoints, murder, racism, sexism, "politically incorrect" statements, etc.)

Sequestering materials on any topic, thereby requiring patrons -- adults as well as children -- to ask for such materials would have two negative consequences: 1) it would remove the patron's feeling of privacy by making her or him publicly ask for the materials and 2) it would create a psychological barrier that may prevent patrons from acquiring the information they want.

Selecting certain materials for a closed shelf would contradict the fundamental Mission of the Library: that all ideas be available without barriers so that individuals may make their own judgments on issues of importance to them.

Board policy is that parents and guardians are responsible for the selection choices of their own minor children, and that no materials are to be labeled, sequestered, or altered because of controversy.

The function of a public library is to make books and materials available to everyone in the community, rather than to assume an in loco parentis* role or to offer a service that protects children from ideas other parents find offensive.

Because of the diversity in family values, it would be impossible and presumptuous for community librarians to attempt to enforce the standards and values of any particular family.

*in loco parentis: in place of a parent; charged, factitiously, with a parent's rights, duties, and responsibilities.

Present Practice/Philosophy:

The Library does not make judgments on the content of material. It does not sequester material based on content or controversy. Patrons of the Vancouver Community Library have direct access to the materials in the storage collection which is in the Headquarters area of the building. These must be ordered through the reserve system for other branches. To the degree possible, library materials are made available on an equitable basis throughout all buildings and branches.

There is no valid basis or criteria by which we can select the materials to be restricted.

Placing materials in the Headquarters Library would make it more accessible to Clark County residents than to residents of Klickitat and Skamania Counties. It has always been the philosophy of Fort Vancouver Regional Library to provide an equally comprehensive and up-to-date collection in all branches except only for limitations imposed by the size of the facilities.

Parents, not the Library, are responsible for deciding at what age their children are sufficiently mature to read sexually explicit material.

The Library has valid collection objectives to meet the needs of patrons and some patrons want this material freely available. The Library does not favor lifestyles; it meets the information needs of patrons.

The Library does not limit access to books based on their content or require that any material be viewed only in certain areas of the Library. Where space is available, Fort Vancouver Regional Library attempts to provide relatively private reading areas.

Different patrons are offended by many different types of materials. The Library cannot choose one patron's wishes over another's. If it does, then it must honor all such requests with separate viewing areas, sequestering, or other accommodations. Time, staff, and resources do not allow this.

A viewing area is meaningless unless certain books are permanently shelved within the separate viewing area. To honor any such requests would amount to sequestering; to honor all such requests would fragment the collection and make it less usable to patrons.

Ideally, libraries provide carrels for many kinds of private uninterrupted study and use. When private areas can be provided, they are in constant demand and cannot be reserved exclusively for any type of material.

Fort Vancouver Regional Library respects the privacy of its readers. It does not monitor reading choices. The Library encourages its patrons to report inappropriate behavior so that staff may decide what action should be taken.

Making the Children's Area of the Library off limits to adult explicit material would require that a staff member examine what everyone in the Children's Area was reading, a procedure that adults might reasonably resent.

Such an intrusion into the privacy rights of adult readers is not justified by the comparatively few incidents that have occurred. Library staff have been able to deal with these isolated incidents when they have taken place.

Barring adults from the Children's Area because of the materials they choose to read could make it impossible for parents to guide what their own children read.

Fort Vancouver Regional Library does not make value judgments about what may be sensitive material for any family. It does encourage parents and children to ask a Librarian for help in finding books that meet their needs.

Materials that seem "sensitive" to one family may be desirable for other families. The Library cannot endorse, advocate, or disapprove any specific material. It does attempt to assist individual families match their stated needs and objectives for their own children to suitable materials in the collection.

The Library makes available professional assistance, book reviews, and annotations so that citizens may make their own judgments.

Fort Vancouver Regional Library does not discriminate by age. All materials are available to all patrons, including minors. The Library does not come between parents and their own children in determining what is appropriate for any individual minor.

The Library expects parents to accompany their children to the Library until the parents believe the children are mature enough to make decisions on their own.

A store, unlike a governmental agency, has no responsibility to protect First Amendment rights. A public library is a governmental agency which serves as an information source and public forum for the community, and thus it must protect the First Amendment rights of all its citizens. It has no legal authority to modify the rights of children.

Stores are commercial enterprises and do not sell certain materials to minors because they wish to avoid controversy. Public libraries are governmental agencies whose Mission is to provide equal access to diverse information for everyone regardless of its controversial nature.

The premier Mission of a public library in a free country, such as the United States of America, is to create a public forum for the free exchange of both information and ideas on all subjects. A public library that avoids controversial materials also avoids its Mission.

All materials are available to all persons regardless of age. Parents who do not want their children to see certain materials should instruct and guide their own children and/or accompany them to the Library as the parent deems necessary. The Library does not make value judgments for any parent or child.

The Library has no legal authority to require parents to accompany their children to the Library, nor can it justify discriminating against children whose parents do not accompany them.

Many different parents have widely different ideas of what constitutes sexually explicit material. The Library cannot make value judgments among these differing viewpoints in order to create a restricted list of materials.

Fort Vancouver Regional Library does not discriminate by age. People of all ages are allowed to use branches and bookmobiles of the Library whenever they are open.

The Library must not become a babysitting service. The Library encourages parents to come with their children.

During a "kids only" time, parents would not be with their children to assist them with their selection choices.

Branches of the Library can be open only a given number of hours a week. It would be unfair to deny access to adult patrons during a portion of those limited hours.

Fort Vancouver Regional Library applies stickers that identify certain specific genres of material (mysteries, science fiction, etc.). Juvenile materials are identified with a "J" (juvenile) or "E" (easy) before the call number on the spine. All of these "labels" are non-judgmental ways to make it easier for patrons to find what they want.

The Library strongly encourages parents to assist their children in selecting books and other Library services. Staff and reference materials are readily available to assist parents in exercising this right and responsibility.

There is no single standard by which the Library could label the more than 20,000 individual titles it purchases a year and the over 570,000 items already in the collection.

Books are not generally rated by the publishing industry. Fort Vancouver Regional Library does not have the time, staff, or resources to thoroughly review every sentence in every new and existing title and assign an appropriate rating and label.

Labeling books would imply that the Library endorses or advocates specific materials. Instead, the Library makes available professional assistance, book reviews, and annotations so that citizens may make their own judgments.

Chronological age is not a true indicator of a child's development. Determinations of a child's maturity are best made by the family and not by the Library.

Movies are labeled by a profitmaking, commercial enterprise as a marketing tool. Such labels have no legal effect. Moreover, the content of movies is manipulated to fit a marketing strategy to increase popularity. Public libraries are informational institutions, not commercial enterprises, and are not in the business of manipulating public taste.

Ten free photocopies per day are allowed for reference materials.

This practice reduces theft and mutilation of materials.

This service is a convenience to students and other researchers. To charge for basic reference photocopying would discriminate against patrons on the basis of economic status.