PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release Sept. 5, 05
Appalling Facts About the American Library Association
That 99% of Americans Don't Know
We keep hearing that those pornographic books in the Fayetteville School Library can't be bad books because they have received awards from the American Library Association.
Following are some facts about the American Library Association (ALA) that will surprise 99% of Americans. (See below Contact Information for all these facts.)
On American Library Association's (ALA) own website they celebrate the fact that some of their librarians have been named winners of a 2004 Hugh Hefner First Amendment Award - awards established in 1979 by the Playboy Foundation. (1)
Ann K Symons, former president and treasurer of ALA, served as a juror on the Playboy Foundation's (Hugh M. Hefner's) award committee. (2)
ALA calls for free and unfettered access to the Internet for any library patron, regardless of age and resists all efforts for filters for any age. In order to protect the libraries' right to deny filters even for children of any age, ALA filed suit against the law passed by Congress called the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA). ALA did not win this suit, and CIPA is law; but many libraries are now disobeying this law and refusing to use filters for children. (3 )
Playboy executive Christie Hefner was a forum panelist at an ALA convention. (4)
In June, 1997 Judith Krug, speaking for the ALA, stubbornly insisted, "Blocking material leads to censorship. That goes for pornography and bestiality, too. If you don't like it, don't look at it." (Krug is President of of the ALA's new Office of Intellectual Freedom) (5)
The novel Push is recommended by American Library Association's List of Books "for teens who enjoy the challenges of experimental fiction." This book includes, among numerous other vile descriptions, one detailed, explicit passage on three way sex among a man, his daughter, and grandchild in Pampers. Another passage describes how every sexual part of the molested teen's sexual anatomy excitedly reacts to the molestation by the father, all described in complete gutter language. (6)
American Library Association Library Journal highly recommends & celebrates Judith Levine's very controversial book, The Perils of Protecting Children From Sex, as a wake up call, saying Levine has brought to light many misrepresentations such as the "pedophile panic" and that Levine outlines the foundation that American Library Association uses as a basis for their battle against censorship. ALA Library Journal closes its review with these words, "Instead of overreaction and overprotection, adults need to saturate their children's world with accurate, realistic information and images of love and sex, including sexual pleasure." (Go to www.wpaag.org to see how many of the excerpts from 54 books in Fayetteville School Library that our society would want our children to believe are accurate, realistic information on sex.)
This author, Levine, uses several arguments to soften the stigma associated with pedophiles. Contrary to all the other research, studies, and news reports about the repeated offenses of pedophiles and sex offenders , this author makes a case for how easily these pedophiles can change their ways, saying, "The state of Vermont, for example, reported in 1995 that its reoffense rates after treatment were only 7 percent for pedophiles, pages 24-26. She further says, "More important, sexual contact with a child does not a pedophile make, p. 25." Judith Levine also criticizes "abstinence-only education as a kind of child neglect", p. 109.
Yet American Library Association says Levine's book is a "wake up call" and is based on their own philosophy. See entire Library Journal Review below, number (7).
So much for ALA award winning books! This information should be a wake up call for every parent and citizen to become involved in the selection of library books.
Contact:
Bobby L. Hester, State Director
American Family Association of Arkansas
P. O. Box 9076
Jonesboro, Arkansas 72403
Documentation
1. http://www.ala.org/ala/pr2004/may2004/FirstAmendmentAward.htm
(2) http://www.fflibraries.org/Speeches_Editorials_Papers/FFLResponseToALA_WT_3-26-99Letter.htm -
she was president of ALA: http://www.ala.org/ala/development/supportforala/alaplannedgiving/alalegacysociety/symons.htm
(3) ) [from ALA site] http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/oifprograms/lawforlib/lflhistory/history.htm In January 1996, the "American Library Association adopted its Interpretation of Library Bill of Rights on Access to Electronic Information, Services, and Networks, calling for free and unfettered access to the Internet for any library patron, regardless of age. In July 1997, the ALA adopted a Resolution on the Use of Filtering Software in Libraries, which condemned as a violation of the Library Bill of Rights any use of filtering software by libraries. In accordance with these policies, the ALA filed suit on behalf of the nation’s libraries and library patrons to overturn CIPA on March 20, 2001. ... CIPA is now officially law."
(4) http://www.afa.net/lif/schools.asp
(5) http://www.fflibraries.org/Basic_Docs/biehle.htm
(6) http://archive.ala.org/booklist/v95/youth/oc1/55yatalk.html
Push by Sapphire is on recommended List of Books "for teens who enjoy the challenges of experimental fiction."
From Library Journal
Journalist and free-speech activist Levine
(My Enemy, My Love: Women, Men, and the Dilemmas of Gender) here argues that
trying to protect young people from sex can actually exacerbate or even create
the much-feared sexual danger. Her well-documented horror stories of zealotry
and incompetence are chilling; Levine is particularly good at showing that
abstinence-based sex education leaves many teens without the information they
need to make intelligent choices. Misrepresentations of fact, unfounded
assumptions, the runaway media hype offered by so-called experts, conservative
agendas, and simple conformity, she writes, largely determine our approaches to
censorship, "the pedophile panic," youthful sexual behavior, sex education,
abortion, and the suppression of information about sexual pleasure. These
factors, she holds, predispose young people to have bad sex with unwanted
outcomes. Instead of overreaction and overprotection, adults need to saturate
their children's world with accurate, realistic information and images of love
and sex, including sexual pleasure. Her book, which provoked considerable
controversy even before its publication, provides no easy answers to a complex
question but is highly recommended as a wake-up call.