http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/ala/ en-us Sun, 22 Nov 2009 21:35:43 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2392212/posts Teen Sex Magazine to Stay on Shelves at Iowa Library Sunday, November 22, 2009 AMES, Iowa — A teen sex magazine will stay on the shelves at the Ames Public Library despite a petition signed by more than 100 parents objecting to the publication. The Ames Library Board voted 6-1 to support library Director Art Weeks' recommendation to keep the magazine Sex, Ect., in the teen section. The magazine is written by and for teens under the oversight of Answer, a national sexuality organization at Rutgers University. It addresses teen sexuality issues, substance abuse and eating disorders. FoxNews http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2392212/posts#comment Sun, 22 Nov 2009 21:35:43 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2388266/posts Paul Schupska knows his history. Over the years, his vast collections of baseball, World War I and II and antique toys have been displayed at community public libraries throughout the area. Whether it is a vintage GI Joe or an authentic World War II map used by Allied forces in a European bunker, Schupska prides himself on the completeness of his displays, on telling as much of a complete history as possible. When he recently showcased his World War II collection at the Pasadena Public Library on Fairmont, the Nazi insignias were part of that story. He has shown several... Pasadena Citizen News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2388266/posts#comment Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:25:16 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2369117/posts Visit most public school libraries and you'll find an array of books that address the subject of homosexuality. Many include sexually explicit content, and some even include graphic images. But if you're looking for a book that refers to the possibility that homosexuality can be "reversed," a Chicago-based group says your best bet is the banned books list. Fox News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2369117/posts#comment Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:24:35 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2352200/posts The novelist and children's writer Philip Pullman has been showered with awards that include a CBE, a Carnegie Medal and several honorary professorships. This week he notched up a new distinction: he is ranked second in the top 10 books that people have tried to ban across America. Pullman's fantasy trilogy, His Dark Materials, has leapt to the top of the target list of would-be censors in the new rankings issued this week by the American Library Association. Several schools across America faced requests from parents to remove the book. One challenge at a school in Winchester, Kentucky was made... London Guardian http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2352200/posts#comment Thu, 1 Oct 2009 03:35:37 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2351290/posts How ironic it is that when news emerges of Governor Palin's book becoming available prior to its expected date, she shows up in my school's library. No, she didn't show up in person and no, there was no announcement to inform interested students about her book, which reportedly is already number one on the Barnes and Noble list. She showed up in the center of a display highlighting Banned Books Week. Conservatives4Palin http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2351290/posts#comment Wed, 30 Sep 2009 02:41:10 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2322149/posts Brooklyn's chief librarian has yanked a nearly 80-year-old book from the shelves because it depicts Africans as monkeys. Tintin Au Congo is the only book in the city library system hidden from public view after a reader complained that it was "racially offensive." The popular Belgian children's work - due to be made into a movie by Steven Spielberg - is locked behind a series of hidden doors on the third floor of Brooklyn's central library. "'Tintin au Congo' was relocated," said director Richard Reyes-Gavilan. Library officials across the city said they've debated pulling about 25 books and DVDs from... NYDailyNews http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2322149/posts#comment Sat, 22 Aug 2009 18:31:45 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2291251/posts Panel dropped after invitation of Islam critic Three speakers pull out of ALA forum on Muslim religion By Shaun Waterman Monday, July 13, 2009 The American Library Association has canceled a panel discussion on Islam planned for its annual conference over the weekend, after three speakers withdrew in protest at the inclusion of the fourth, a controversial critic of the Muslim religion. The critic, Robert Spencer, who runs the blog site JihadWatch.org, told The Washington Times that he learned of the decision to cancel Sunday's panel - "Perspectives on Islam: Beyond the Stereotyping" - in an e-mail message Saturday morning... The Washington Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2291251/posts#comment Mon, 13 Jul 2009 04:36:47 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2253992/posts BEVERLY, Mass. -- The former director of the Beverly Public Library who pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography wants to keep his $31,000 annual public pension. Thomas Scully has filed a lawsuit in Salem Superior Court claiming the city Retirement Board has no right to revoke his pension on the grounds of "moral turpitude." Scully's suit filed Friday claims he would suffer "severe financial loss" if he loses his pension because he is unlikely to land another job in his field. Scully's pension was approved in May 2005, after his arrest, but his lawyer tells The Salem News the decision... WHDH-TV http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2253992/posts#comment Tue, 19 May 2009 16:16:10 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2228444/posts San Jose City Council to reconsider porn filters at libraries San Jose officials are preparing for a showdown later this month over online pornography in city libraries. City officials last considered whether to electronically filter library Internet use in 1997. At the time, they overwhelmingly concluded the technology was too primitive to snag smut without also snaring information about health topics like breast cancer. The council will revisit that decision in what is expected to be a heavily attended evening meeting April 21. Councilman Pete Constant since October 2007 has called for reconsidering that move. He has cited improvements in... San Jose Mercury News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2228444/posts#comment Tue, 14 Apr 2009 00:41:14 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2168934/posts WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to consider attempts to revive a 1998 law intended to protect children from Internet pornography, ending a legal conflict dating to the administration of President Bill Clinton. Without comment, the court handed down an order declining to take the case of Mukasey v. A.C.L.U., No. 08-565. The administration of former President George W. Bush, through Attorney General Michael Mukasey, had asked the justices to review the law. The American Civil Liberties Union has been a leading foe of the statute. The Child Online Protection Act has been the subject of court battles... New York Slimes http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2168934/posts#comment Wed, 21 Jan 2009 19:15:32 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2097666/posts Students Protest School Library’s Rejection of Christian Books on Homosexuality Breitbart http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2097666/posts#comment Sat, 4 Oct 2008 23:51:57 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2087930/posts As part of the microscopic scrutiny applied to Sarah Palin’s record, the public has been told that as the incoming Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska in 1996, Palin dared to ask the town librarian what would happen if anyone objected to an inappropriate book. She merely inquired, but "anti-censorship" activists, perpetually filled with visions of a trash can full of burning books, exploded. At the time, the Anchorage Daily News captured the librarian, one Mary Ellen Emmons, putting up her First Amendment dukes. “I told her clearly, I will fight anyone who tries to dictate what books can go on the... Media Research Center http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2087930/posts#comment Mon, 22 Sep 2008 20:33:32 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2088532/posts WASILLA — Responding to news reports about then-Wasilla Mayor Sarah Palin asking a librarian how she would feel about banning books, a San Francisco man has donated two children’s books dealing with homosexuality to the Wasilla Library. Mike Petrelis, a 49-year-old who files Freedom of Information requests for a living, said he was aghast to read reports of Palin’s 1996 inquiry about banning certain books at Wasilla’s library. The news — old news in the Mat-Su Valley, but new in the Lower 48 — prompted Petrelis to send to Wasilla “Heather Has Two Mommies” and “Daddy’s Roommate,” both children’s books... Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2088532/posts#comment Tue, 23 Sep 2008 15:29:32 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2082132/posts In most cases, the one to bring a complaint to the library is a concerned parent or a citizen sincerely interested in the future wellbeing of the community. Although complainants may not have a broad knowledge of literature or of the principles of freedom of expression, their motives in questioning a book or other library material are seldom unusual. Any number of reasons are given for recommending that certain material be removed from the library. Complainants may believe that the materials will corrupt children and adolescents, offend the sensitive or unwary reader, or undermine basic values and beliefs. Sometimes, for... Ameican Library Association http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2082132/posts#comment Sun, 14 Sep 2008 13:59:08 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2080485/posts Librarians irked colleague sent unverified Palin e-mail By LAURA GREEN Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Thursday, September 11, 2008 A Palm Beach County School District library manager set off an e-mail controversy this week when she sent school librarians a list of books Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin allegedly tried to ban as mayor of a small Alaska town. Problem was the list turned out to be a hoax. It included Harry Potter books that weren't yet published when Palin had an exchange with the Wasilla librarian about removing books. Palm Beach Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2080485/posts#comment Fri, 12 Sep 2008 02:40:20 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2078523/posts Sarah Palin seems like a perfectly normal person, but partisans both in and out of the media have been busily trying to depict her as some sort of religious nut. Among other things, Palin's opponents claim that as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, she was a "book banner"--which is to say, that she sought to have books removed from the local public library. This claim has been debunked--but not before it has spread all over the Internet with the help of some in the mainstream media. The book-banner tale seems to have originated in a widely circulated Aug. 31 email from... Wall Street Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2078523/posts#comment Tue, 9 Sep 2008 22:35:39 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2074800/posts WASILLA -- Back in 1996, when she first became mayor, Sarah Palin asked the city librarian if she would be all right with censoring library books should she be asked to do so. According to news coverage at the time, the librarian said she would definitely not be all right with it. A few months later, the librarian, Mary Ellen Emmons, got a letter from Palin telling her she was going to be fired. The censorship issue was not mentioned as a reason for the firing. The letter just said the new mayor felt Emmons didn’t fully support her and... Boston Herald http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2074800/posts#comment Thu, 4 Sep 2008 20:39:26 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2038937/posts ALA to Libraries: Keep Alms for Jihad, Pulped in the UK Andrew Albanese & Jennifer Pinkowski -- Library Journal At the urging of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF), a scholarly book pulped by its British publisher is maintaining a safe haven in U.S. libraries. Alms for Jihad was the target of a potential libel suit in England by Sheikh Khalid bin Mahfouz, whose charitable activities have reportedly been linked to terrorist activities, as conveyed in the book. In response, publisher Cambridge University Press (CUP) pulped its unsold copies of the book, put it out of... Library Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2038937/posts#comment Tue, 1 Jul 2008 02:19:28 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2030746/posts An Ohio county public library has closed its meeting rooms to the public rather than allow them to be used by a Christian group. George and Cathy Vandergriff wanted to host a Crown Financial Ministries "Financial Freedom" workshop in a public meeting room at the Clermont County, Ohio, public library. Tim Chandler, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), says the couple was told that, because the class would be quoting from the Bible, they could not hold it at the library. "The Supreme Court said, more than 25 years ago, that once you've opened up meeting space, you... One News Now http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2030746/posts#comment Fri, 13 Jun 2008 20:17:17 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2029837/posts A Northwest Side man was charged with a hate crime and his three adult sons were charged with felony aggravated battery in an alleged attack on a motorist in which racial epithets were shouted, prosecutors said. Mahmoud Alkhazaleh, 53, of the 5500 block of North Mango Avenue also was charged with aggravated battery and vehicle invasion in a June 9 attack on a man who allegedly had honked his horn to prod Alkhazaleh to step out of the path of his truck, according to court documents. Alkhazaleh called the victim a "blue-eyed devil" and an " 'American [expletive]' during a... Chicago Tribune http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2029837/posts#comment Thu, 12 Jun 2008 03:03:40 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2029437/posts Quoting Scripture banned in library community room 'What next? Will board keep patrons from reading Bible?' Posted: June 10, 2008 9:33 pm Eastern © 2008 WorldNetDaily Quoting from the Bible has been banned in a community room at the public library in Clermont County, Ohio, and now a couple who sought to use the facility for a financial planning seminar have brought a court case.snip...However, when Cathy Vandergriff asked in person to use a meeting room for a financial planning meeting, the conversation with the library employee took an unwelcome turn. "When Mrs. Vandergriff indicated that the seminar would be... WorldNetDaily http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2029437/posts#comment Wed, 11 Jun 2008 15:00:44 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1996749/posts Personnel records used to justify the dismissal of a librarian who reported to police a man viewing child pornography on a public computer were changed after her dismissal, according to a law firm working on behalf of Brenda Biesterfield. That, however, hasn't stopped the county from justifying its actions and citing the changed records."The actions of Tulare County officials in firing Brenda Biesterfeld are simply inexcusable," said Mathew D. Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel and dean of Liberty University's school of law."She should be reinstated and compensated for the injustice done to her," he said. "The Tulare County Library ought... WorldNetDaily http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1996749/posts#comment Fri, 4 Apr 2008 16:48:56 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1978287/posts <p>Woops, an errant email advisory sent to House Democratic members by Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office had some unique suggested talking points for the upcoming "Read Across America" day. Basically, it said, just tell the kids and their teachers: blah, blah, blah.</p> <p>"Blah, blah, blah, blah Blah, blah, blah."</p> Washington Post - The Sleuth Blog http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1978287/posts#comment Fri, 29 Feb 2008 16:06:06 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1975766/posts Story title: Child Porn Suspect Ordered to Stand Trial; Man Accused of Accessing Images on Unfiltered Library Computer A computer glitch actually prevents the library from protecting a criminal from arrest! Story excerpt: ROYAL OAK - When James Mullaney got timed out of his computer session at Royal Oak Public Library, James Boothe said he logged on to the same terminal and was appalled at the screen that appeared. "It was child pornography," Boothe told 44th District Court Judge Terrence Brennan. "...I was taken aback by the images and I got up immediately and notified the desk." The computer screen... Daily Tribune http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1975766/posts#comment Mon, 25 Feb 2008 05:37:06 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1964057/posts What distinguishes us from all other nations is the range and depth of the First Amendment's expressive individual liberties against government control of what we say and think. Having researched and written about it for more than 50 years, I can attest that the most compelling readable account of its tumultuous and often imperiled history is the newly published "Freedom for the Thought That We Hate: A Biography of the First Amendment" by Anthony Lewis (Basic Books). Part of the title comes from Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes' warning of the most powerful need of the First Amendment, especially... Renew America http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1964057/posts#comment Sun, 3 Feb 2008 02:42:36 GMT