Posted May 20, 205.

Johnson County Reaffirms Library Bill of Rights

A newly configured Johnson County (Kans.) Library Board has reversed its April 20 decision to remove the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights from its acquisition policy. The deselection had encountered such intense public criticism that the board reinstated the guideline May 18. The Kansas City Star reported May 19 that the board received dozens of letters, e-mails, and phone calls from residents, many of whom criticized them for taking a step backwards. Some threatened to withhold library donations, while others charged that the library’s national reputation was at stake.

Former board member Bart Cohen had led the move to take the Library Bill of Rights reference out of the policy in the final moments of his last board meeting, but two new trustees who joined in mid-May, Charley Vogt and Pamela Crandall, sided with three others to reinstate it. An initial vote to rescind the April 20 action resulted in a 4–2 vote, while a later motion that returned the guideline to the collection policy was approved 5–1.

Vogt argued that the library was a gateway to knowledge, not a “safe haven for children,” adding that library staff are not babysitters. Strong support from library staff convinced board member Michael Krolski to change his vote. “If they want it, they can have it,” he said at the meeting.

The lone holdout was Jenifer Lathrum, who said in the Star, “I don’t want to ban and burn any books. Just because every other library in the nation supports this, should we? Maybe we should be the first in the nation to stand against the ALA.”

Posted May 20, 2005.