Memphis Library Funds Threatened
over Unfettered Internet Policy
In the wake of county commission threats to withhold $4 million in funding until the Memphis-Shelby County (Tenn.) Public Library and Information Center explains how they will restrict access to online pornography, trustees have ordered staff to review the library's three-year-old Internet use policy and test drive blocking software. A report is due in September.
Shelby County commissioners recommended withholding funds June 23, three weeks after Colorado Governor Bill Owens vetoed $2 million in collection-development grants to protest a lack of library filtering there.
Board member Joyce Waters said at a July 22 meeting that she had had "a number of calls" from concerned grandparents who "find it totally unbelievable that their 10-year-old grandchild could come to the library and sit down at a terminal and find a pornographic site," according to the July 23 Memphis Commercial Appeal. Noting that "it's easy to be in favor of protecting children," board Chairman Steven Douglass responded, "How do we mesh that with our goal of providing information?"
