Post by Knov1 on Jan 17, 2004 5:09:15 GMT -5
I know this has nothing to do with KBC but I know some of you live near me so I wanted to share what happened at my local library friday morning.
I was at the library this (friday) morning reading the newspaper when I noticed that a guy that was using one of the internet computers was viewing pornographic material. He was using one of the computers that are right by the newspapers and magazines so anyone that walked behind him could see what he was doing. My first reaction was 'It's none of my business so I'll just leave it alone' but this isn't the first time I came across something like this and my sister has told me many times to report this stuff to one of the librarians and so I did. Also, my little sister goes to that library all the time and I wouldn't want her to come across something like that. I don't know what surprised me more, the person viewing the porn or the librarians reaction. When I told the librarian what I saw he told me 'oh, is it disturbing you?'. The only thing I could think of to respond was 'Huh?'. I was surprised that he was so nonchalant about it so I added that I was reporting it because from my understanding you're not allowed to view pornographic material on library computers and that the library could lose funds and its internet privileges if people were using the computers to view porn. To which he added 'It's ok that you're telling me this but I would have to determine whether it's actually pornographic material and whether it's causing a public disturbance'. I left that library feeling like telling him anything was a complete waste of time. I don't know if he didn't believe me but his reaction to the whole thing was shocking to me. I'm just thankful that there were no kids there at that time because there tends to be kids at the library in the morning. My sister spoke with a library supervisor for the city of Chicago over the phone and she said that they've received numerous complaints regarding this matter but that people are protected under the first amendment (freedom of expression) so dealing with this kind of thing can be complicated. What I don't understand is why someone would want to go to a library to view porn. I mean, hey, if someone wants to view porn let him to do it from the privacy of his own home. Why should anyone else have to be exposed to this kind of material. I know I don't want my little sister, or anyone else's kid for that matter, coming across this kind of stuff.
I was at the library this (friday) morning reading the newspaper when I noticed that a guy that was using one of the internet computers was viewing pornographic material. He was using one of the computers that are right by the newspapers and magazines so anyone that walked behind him could see what he was doing. My first reaction was 'It's none of my business so I'll just leave it alone' but this isn't the first time I came across something like this and my sister has told me many times to report this stuff to one of the librarians and so I did. Also, my little sister goes to that library all the time and I wouldn't want her to come across something like that. I don't know what surprised me more, the person viewing the porn or the librarians reaction. When I told the librarian what I saw he told me 'oh, is it disturbing you?'. The only thing I could think of to respond was 'Huh?'. I was surprised that he was so nonchalant about it so I added that I was reporting it because from my understanding you're not allowed to view pornographic material on library computers and that the library could lose funds and its internet privileges if people were using the computers to view porn. To which he added 'It's ok that you're telling me this but I would have to determine whether it's actually pornographic material and whether it's causing a public disturbance'. I left that library feeling like telling him anything was a complete waste of time. I don't know if he didn't believe me but his reaction to the whole thing was shocking to me. I'm just thankful that there were no kids there at that time because there tends to be kids at the library in the morning. My sister spoke with a library supervisor for the city of Chicago over the phone and she said that they've received numerous complaints regarding this matter but that people are protected under the first amendment (freedom of expression) so dealing with this kind of thing can be complicated. What I don't understand is why someone would want to go to a library to view porn. I mean, hey, if someone wants to view porn let him to do it from the privacy of his own home. Why should anyone else have to be exposed to this kind of material. I know I don't want my little sister, or anyone else's kid for that matter, coming across this kind of stuff.
