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Kansas Board Deselects Library Bill of RightsBy a vote of 4–3, the Johnson County (Kans.) Library Board has removed from its collection policy the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights, which had been part of its acquisitions guidelines since 1956. The April 20 action, which was proposed by trustee Barton Cohen for the second time in two years, came at the board’s biennial review of library policies. In 2003, the board rejected Cohen’s bid to remove the guideline that libraries acquire materials reflecting all points of view.Those who opposed the April 20 action contended that it opened the door to censorship, but Cohen and the three trustees who backed him insisted that the change would merely make library policy internally consistent. Although deleted from acquisitions guidelines, the Library Bill of Rights remains as an appendix to JCL’s overall policy. “I just don’t understand what the big fuss is,” Cohen said in the April 23 Kansas City Star. However, according to the October 18, 2002, Johnson County Sun, Cohen explained his interest in the policy revision as being out of concern that “if you have to have all points of view, you’re saying we need to have information on acts of terrorism.” Board member James Berger, who supported Cohen’s 2005 proposal, told the April 23 Star, “Parents see libraries as a safe haven” but that the linkage of collection development policy to the Library Bill of Rights was preventing the library from shielding minors from sexually explicit material. “If we put up a sign that said, ‘Parents, drop your kids off at your own risk,’ that would be fine,” Berger added. “But we don’t.” A week after the vote, county commissioners agreed to review how they select library trustees. Commissioner Dolores Furtado explained that she could no longer approve an appointment without a resume and cover letter that specified the applicant’s motivation for seeking board membership, according to the April 29 Star. Posted April 29, 2005. |
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