Porn | Outrage Over Internet Porn Access At Local Library

Your local public library is offering more than just the latest bestseller by John Grisham. You can also go to the library to look at porn.

That's right, porn.

State Sen. Marty Golden is among the lawmakers expressing outrage in the wake of news reports about easy access to internet porn sites on public library computers.

Any adult can walk into any library in the Brooklyn, Queens, or New York Public Library systems, present their library card and view internet porn sites, Golden said.

Golden said he thinks it's appalling.

"Libraries are for the community to enrich their educational pursuits, not be a place to go to download pornography," he said.

Golden spoke out on Tuesday, a day after a barrage of media reports on the issue hit the airwaves.The fact that adults have the right to look at porn sites on library computers is nothing new. But news of the adult entertainment bonanza exploded on Monday with an article in the New York Post.

Before long, the story was picked up by television and radio stations and was also featured in newspapers from as far away as England.

Patrons who use library computers are protected by the First Amendment, according to officials."Our responsibility is free and open access. Anything that is legal and permitted on any computer must be made available on a library computer," said Jason Karey, director of marketing and public relations for the Brooklyn Public Library.

It's the same principal with written materials, according to Karey, who said an adult "can check out any book on our shelves."

Karey was quick to add, however, "We're not the taste-makers here."

Golden called on all of the city's public library systems to install stronger filtering systems to ensure that children don't accidentally stumble onto porn sites.

"It is the responsibility of the public library systems to take action to protect the public at large," Golden said.

The lack of strong preventative measures "is a glaring failure to library patrons who don't want to be subjected to actions of the small minority who use the libraries for deviant and lewd actions," he said.The Brooklyn Public Library, which has 58 branches, already has a strong filtering system to protect children, Karey said.

"Because we receive federal funding, we comply with the Child Internet Protection Act. An adult can come into one of our libraries, present a card and be given access to all legal sites on the computer. Kids cannot do that. Kids' cards are blocked," he said.

(c) Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2011All materials posted on BrooklynEagle.com are protected by United States