Petition Questions
Massachusetts Library’s Video Policy
The video policy of the Emily Williston Memorial Library was challenged by a petition at its March 13 library executive board meeting.
Gayle L. Bennett, who presented the petition, collected approximately 135 signatures requesting the Easthampton, Massachusetts, library’s board reconsider its policy after her 13-year-old son checked out The Matrix and other R-rated videos. “I was surprised the library [let him borrow] that material,” Bennett said in the March 14 Springfield Union-News.
Director Rebecca Plimpton told American Libraries that the library’s current policy requires a parent co-sign for library cards of children under 14, making the parent responsible for what a child checks out.
The petition requested a system where the library would keep a list of what a child could or couldn’t check out, Plimpton explained. James J. McMahon Jr., president of the Public Library Association of Easthampton, said the board would seek legal advice and study the policies of other regional libraries before making any recommendation. Plimpton said she expected the board to make a decision by its April meeting.
Posted March 20, 2000.
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