Hi there, Thanks for your note. Did you hear the conversation about this problem on the Bob Rivers Show earlier this week: http://www.bobrivers.com/#v10216c6

I think we should get organized around this issue and get the City to protect our children from seeing this material and being around those who view it. Please email me if you are interested in supporting such an effort. asuchoski@feareygroup.com

Cheers, Amina

hi, i'm the mom who sent the original email and i just wanted to clarify... at the time i was very shook up by what i saw and i guess i wasn't "assaulted" (my bad) but i also wasn't snooping at someone's computer screen. all i was doing was walking from the non-fiction section down the aisle to the kids section and in my normal range of vision there is a computer screen (go take a look if you don't believe me) and on the screen was a close up of a woman's private parts. think super close up legs spread wide pelvic exam. i talked to the assistant to the city librarian who oversees our neighborhood library and she was going to take a look at that computer screen and hopefully swap it with one that doesn't have access to the internet so that other unsuspecting folks just walking by won't get an eyeful. i also talked to a lawyer friend who directed me to this: http://www.spl.org/default.asp?pageID=about_pol...
but apparently porn isn't considered obscene because it's not illegal. anyway, happy to have other parents that agree with me that porn isn't appropriate at the magnolia library. oh, here is a good article that i so agree with: http://www.oregonlive.com/hovde/index.ssf/2009/...

Sometimes a little Googleing before drawing conclusions goes a long way. Here's the legal decision that sets the foundation currently supporting all the voyers out there in public libraries:

http://www.techlawjournal.com/courts/loudon/811...

OOPS. Make that voyeurs. My bad.

What's all this talk about library policy? If he was looking at porn, not Maxim but porn, in a place where children could see it then he was breaking the law. You have to be 18 to view porn and it is the responsibility of any adult viewing porn to make sure that minors cannot view it. There is no free speech issue here. On a related note, does this library really carry Juggs?

How great that we have this neighborhood website to share our views. Thank you to the mom who was concerned and didn't keep it to herself, and everyone who commented. I found it really educational to read so many different ways of looking at the situation.

“Minding my own business and was assaulted by porn as i walked by the computer.” Assaulted by porn? According to my dictionary that would mean you where attack physically or verbally in a violent way. What happened was you saw something that you did not agree with and you feel like every one else should jump into action to insure that your little rose colored bubble remains intact. If you where “minding your own business" you would not have been looking at that man’s screen and you could have gone on with your day in ignorant bliss. Next time, REALLY mind your own business. but if you have to go snooping at other peoples computer screen don’t be surprised or shocked at what you see. In other words don’t go looking for trouble and you won't find it.

What kind of person would even want to look at porn in a public place? Sounds like they get a thrill out of other people watching them. Sorry, but I think it is very weird. Porn should be private.

fox news,? Give me a break. comments here are so pc.

Magnolia Parent, why so aggressive?

If you want to engage someone who's watching porn in the library in conversation, just do it and find out what they have to say. "non-library voice"?? using a camera phone?? That's really rude, obnoxious behavior all because someone's using a library for something that you personally don't approve of.

For that matter, the last thing I want is for my children to be exposed to Fox News, but when I see a library patron reading their website on their screen, I just look the other way. It's the grown-up respectful thing to do.

I'll just go ahead and second the comments that the person complaining is invading the privacy of the person at the computer. No one forced you to look at his screen, nor should you have been. In fact, I find your complaint about this offensive. It's a shame that we allow complaints like that in Magnolia.

Even if the parent was invading this patron's privacy, kids don't understand that concept. If the patron can view this type of material in plain view of a child that my be standing close enough to see the screen- then a minor has the potential of being exposed to adult content material which seems inappropriate at a library. A public place shouldn't foster an atmosphere that makes it easy for the law to be broken (in this case a minor being exposed to adult content). It seems easy enough to have an adult-only section, they do that in video stores for this exact purpose.

That's close to a solution, but not really an acceptable one since it creates a second class of citizen IMO. By shuntng off folks who come to the library to look at "adult" material, they will be stigmatized by the community at large simply for being in that area of the library. That is not okay. What if the "adult" material they are looking at is anatomy research? It's got pictures of naked adults, but it's not porn is it? Should they be labeled because they have to sit in the adult section of the library?

The long and the short of it is: If you are concerned that your kid might see porn on someone's scree, keep them from having the opportunity to see it by keeping them away from computers where they might see it. this will take vigilance on the part of parents who will have to keep a close watch on their kids, but as a non-kid having adult, I would appreciate that. More often than not, I see and hear kids being allowed to run around the library freely as if it were a playground. As much as parents need some quiet time, the library is not the place to let your kids run free because they might get exposed to something you don't want them to see.

And if they do see something like that, instead of freaking out about it and trying to impose censorship by SPL, why not use it as a teaching moment and an opportunity to pass on your values to your kids. Answer their questions honestly. Explain that some people enjoy looking at certain types of pictures that you yourself find "dirty."

I think you're right parents should be more vigilant about watching their kids but does this mean that the library is somewhere that parents have to always go to with their children? What about a 12 or 13 year old who is going to return or check out a book on their own? Who should be protected? The child, who isn't mature enough to process adult content or the adult who may feel bad if he/she is only allowed to look at the material in a restricted area?

Come on, its not about parents needing quiet time and pawning their kids off at the library- it is about what has already been legally determined unhealthy for kids while their mental faculties are still developing. I doubt a parent even one okay with someone watching porn at the library in front of their child could explain the nuances of sex/ porn/ pleasure etc. to a four-year old. It seems more reasonable to explain to patrons that due to the fact that chidren utilize the public library as well, adult-content is only offered in an adult-section.

Also, why should anyone feel like a second class citizen for looking at porn? If they are comfortable looking at it in a library I doubt the fact that it is in a "adult only" section would be shunning/ stigmatizing them in the larger community. It is pretty much the norm that adult-content is usually offered/ sold where kids don't have access (i.e.- video stores have a separate section or a separate video store altogether, you have to be a certain age to visit certain websites etc.)

"What about a 12 or 13 year old who is going to return or check out a book on their own"

If he's a boy, you can guarantee he's surfed and jerked already .....

I agree with Tina. This is absurd.

I plan to ask my fellow citizen in a non-library voice "Why are you looking at porn in the Library?" I expect this is exactly the kind of discussion he’s looking for.

Next step - snapping camera phone pictures of him... it's public space if he’s just exercising his rights, I’m excising mine, documenting his antisocial behavior.

I would again suggest looking at SPL's stated policies (http://www.spl.org/default.asp?pageID=about_pol...) which clearly state: "All users are asked to respect the privacy of other users and not attempt to censor or comment upon what others are viewing. The Library's Rules of Conduct and pertinent state, federal and local laws apply to all Library users."

Why, by not respecting their privacy, should you feel that you should respect it even less?

Say I was offended by the library's possession of bodice rippers and thought they should be removed (for the children). If I notice you're checking one out should I take a picture of you and circulate it? It's a matter of privacy. SPL asks that you respect others' as they should respect yours.

Obscenity is in the eye of the beholder. A pedophile may be excited just by looking at photos of fully clothed children, should we make all images of children illegal so that they aren't encouraged?
The truth is, YOU were the one who was disturbed by it.
If we start censoring, we all suffer and lose our freedoms. Is Huck Finn next?
Keep Magnolia Free!

As you point out:

"it’s such a shame that we allow this to go on in magnolia."

I agree, we should move the porn watchers to Ballard where they belong.

gotta wonder what she saw that she felt was pron, but clearly didnt hit the librarian the same way? something gay? maybe gossip about the real housewives of someplace skanky?

Who decides what constitutes porn?

please, people alittle common sense is in order. Children should not be subjected to people watching porn in our librarys. If they want to watch porn their should be a porn section in the library where thye can do their thing, away from our kids.

it's legal thanks to the 1st amendment. they also have magazines you can check out. i find it revolting but hey.

Yes, and some localities are classifying it as "Contributing to the delinquency of a minor" as a way to forbid people from looking at porn without looking like censors.

I am in the middle of doing a series on my blog about the adult film industry,

check out http://amoyt.blogspot.com (AMOYT=A Moment Of Your Time)

Polarized privacy shields on the screens will help.

The library has privacy screens. You have to walk directly behind someones computer to see what they are looking at. You do realize that this woman is invading someone elses privacy by looking at their screen?

I think the policy page you should be looking at is actually <a href="http://www.spl.org/default.asp?pageID=about_policies_publicuseofinternet
">here. At issue is the definition of "obscene" which really comes down to legality for SPL: if the image is legally viewable, it's viewable on SPL computers. I know for a fact that library workers aren't actually allowed to approach someone viewing porn on library terminals (how are they to decide where the fine obscenity line might be crossed?) so it's an unfortunate hazard.

Now, until Magnolia manages to open its own library--separate from the Seattle Public Library--you're asked to "not attempt to censor or comment upon what others are viewing."

Here's the culprit: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

eh, I say live and let live.

But if you really want to do something about it, next time you see someone viewing pornography on a library computer and you can ask them politely to switch over to something else while your child is in a nearby section.

The problem is these folks think people who watch porn are 'weird and dangerous'.

Of course, you can GUARANTEE their husbands do it. Especially in Magnolia.