Tulsa Topics

I received the following "Call for Action" from Oklahomans for School Accountability (OFSA). Another Tulsa Blogger, MeeCitteeWurkor, had a post way back in June 2005 regarding "Your Gay Downtown Library" that seems to drive OFSA's point home.

Here's the OFSA email-

OK Folks, here is our chance to make a difference. Please call your representative in Oklahoma City and tell them to support this legislation. The link to find your Representative is below.

(TIME SENSITIVE; FOR IMMEDIATE CIRCULATION)

March 13, 2006

Oklahoma State Representative Sally Kern has a bill, House Bill 2158, which will go to the floor for a vote very soon, perhaps within the week. According to the Library Stories blog, the March 10th editorial in the Daily Oklahoman condemning Representative Kern for her efforts to restrict funding from public libraries - unless they re-shelve obscene materials and homosexually-themed books to a section where only adults can sign for them.

The editorial calls the bill “ironic” and says it removes local control. The truth is that the bill restores local control - the parents' control. Additionally, the Tulsa City-County Library (TCCL) posted its' say on their website, also condemning Representative Kern’s bill. Part of the TCCL statement says that they encourage parental involvement. This is reflective of the ALA and typical of librarians across the country when anyone looks to protect children. If the libraries want parental involvement in selecting books for children and they want parents to stay near their children, then what is their problem with having a parent check out these explicit materials for their children?

The major city-county libraries shelve their books with a teen section, a children’s section and then a fiction section where adult reads are available. It would cost them no more to move the smutty books, bought and paid for by the Oklahoman taxpayer. In fact, it would free up space in the younger sections for libraries to add sophisticated reading such as Pride and Prejudice or Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

OFSA wonders what would happen to libraries if they were to only receive funding from those who want children to have access to vulgar material. Would there be many libraries in this state?

OFSA supports Representative Kern and her bill. If you support Rep. Kern and this bill, there is action you can take:

• Bloggers can assist by posting this Library Alert.
• Oklahomans can click here to enter their address and find their representative. You can simply ask that they support the bill.
• Anyone can write a small letter of encouragement to Representative Kern at sallykern@okhouse.gov. She is an ally and an inspiration to OFSA.
• Anyone can also write a letter to the editor at the Daily Oklahoman and respond to the editorial: Yourviews@oklahoman.com

As always, pass it on.

Regards,

Lyn Rahman
OFSA
www.operationinformation.com
http://oklahomansforschoolaccountability.blogspot.com

---

The Oklahoman article referenced above.......

Don't legislate library book access
Oklahoman Editorial

http://newsok.com/article/1783185/ (Registration required)

A BILL that could strip public libraries of state funding if they fail to cater to a legislative whim deserves to end up in the trash can, not the law books.

House Bill 2158 would require libraries to place any books with homosexuality or "sexually explicit" subject matter in a separate area of the library available only to adults. Libraries wanting state funding must provide documentation of their compliance and a copy of their adults-only distribution policy.

The bill passed a House committee Wednesday and now awaits a vote from the full House. We urge House members to defeat the bill. We find it ironic that the bill said each policy should "reflect the contemporary community standard of the community the library is located in." In putting the bill on a path to becoming law, lawmakers are taking away such local control and substituting it with their judgment. It's not the Legislature's job to tell libraries which books to stock and where to put them. Local library boards are capable of making decisions on whether restricted access is necessary.

Last month, the governing board of Oklahoma County libraries approved a proposal to create a special "parenting collection" of children's books on a variety of issues, including homosexuality and sexually themed material. While the issue was contentious, board members listened to community input and gave it thoughtful debate before deciding.

That's the kind of decision-making process appropriate for a library. While we appreciate attempts to shield children from subjects they may not understand or be ready for, that's a parent's job. For lawmakers to usurp that role is bad public policy.

This isn't the first time this session where we've argued that the Legislature needs to keep its hands off. Sometimes, the best action the Legislature can take is none at all. This issue is a perfect example.