Is Censorship And/Or Fascism Alive And Well In Hammond Library?
As an educator, I have great respect for libraries and librarians. These folks are among the most gifted bibliophiles I have ever met. I have seldom run into a librarian that was not well-versed on a number of topics, unwilling to assist a patron in learning something new, and committed to the idea of freedom in the marketplace of ideas... until last Thursday when I visited the Main Branch of the Hammond Public Library in Hammond, Indiana.
On this date (9/8/2006) I went to the library to post a flyer announcing an educational event sponsored by the Calumet Chapter-ACLU of Indiana focusing on the issues of civil liberties involved in the NSA spying programs, the trend toward extreme secrecy in government and the expansion of executive powers by the current Bush administration. The flyer did not have any partisanship expressed on it. There was no indication as to whether the presentation would be offered from a conservative or liberal perspective. The flyer merely announced the title of the event, who was sponsioring it, where and when it would take place, and its title: "Our Freedom At Risk: Spying, Secrecy and Executive Powers"
Respectfully, I went to the circulation desk to make an inquiry as to how and where I could post the flyers. I had only two flyers with me and I wasn't asking for anything that the library doesn't already do... simply posting the flyer to inform the patrons of the library that a community event was taking place.
Most libraries do this sort of posting as a matter of fact, requiring only that a person from the sponsoring organization provide contact information in case of an arising issue. In fact, there were several posters and flyers already on display at the entrance of the library. Indeed, two of those flyers already on display involved activities very similar to the content of the flyer I was seeking to post.
As a side note, the event being advertised in the flyer was being held in Valparaiso, Indiana because that is where we could obtain space on a short notice. The Valparaiso University Law School has a couple of faculty members that were willing to give our program a place and a voice. But the Calumet Chapter of the ACLU of Indiana serves all of Northwest Indiana, including Hammond, East Chicago, Gary, Schererville, Highland, Dyer, Griffith, Whiting, Lake Station, Cedar Lake, St. John, Merrillville, Hobart, Chesterton, Porter, Portage, Valparaiso and all the other identifiable areas of Lake County, Porter County as well as portions of three other counties in Indiana. There is no question that our service area (catchment area) included Hammond and that the topic of the event was pertinent to citizens and residents of Hammond, Indiana.
The first response from the circulation clerk that I approached was that they could not post flyers that involved "politics." Now you have to understand that the flyers I passed on the way to the circulation desk included a library-sponsored voter registration event to be held on September 11. 2006 in conjunction with a presentation by the general counsel for the Hoosier State Press Association and member of the Indiana Coalition for Open Government.
The Hoosier State Press Association is a trade organization with an agenda of promoting the newspapers published in Indiana. It is essentially a lobbying group representing the trade interests of the newspaper industry within the state. It has a legal division that addresses legal issues involving the press, media and legislative issues. It has a political agenda even though it is not a partisan organization, even though most newspapers in Indiana are considered "Republican newspapers."
The Indiana Coalition for Open Government is a group that specifically addresses open government, access for members of the media and the general public to governmental information and records, but has a strong leaning toward supporting the media in general. In addition, the Coalition has a partnership with the ACLU of Indiana, as described and posted on its web site.
The event sponsiored by the library and put on by the HSPA/ICOG member focused on explaining rights under the Open Door Law and the Access to Public Records Act, but it was entitled: Can The Government Do That? What Are My Rights?
Additionally, the flyer for this event advertised that the League of Women Voters of the Calumet Area would be holding a voter registration in conjunction with the event.
So I explained that this was not a "political" event, it was non-partisan and it was educational in nature. I pointed to the fact that it was occurring at one of the most notable universities in Indiana. I made it clear that the Calumet Chapter served all of Northwest Indiana, including Hammond. The circulation clerk referred me to her supervisor, Mr. Ware Wimberly.
The circulation clerk went back to the supervisor's office with the flyer. Mr. Wimberly came out to meet with me and explained that library policies prohibited the posting of my flyer because it was political in nature. I reiterated that it was not a matter of politics, but a community event involving education about the NSA Spying Porgrams, the trends toward secrecy in government (as in Open Door Access and Access to Public Records), and the expansion of presidential/executive powers.
Wimberly stated that it was political because it was the ACLU. I explained to him that the ACLU is a not-for-profit, non-partisan, non-political organization addressing constitutional issues and civil liberties. The ACLU does not endorse candidates, political parties or involve itself in the funding of one political party over the other. I further explained that the event was purely educational in nature.
Wimberly then stated that the event was political because the flyer had photgraphs of President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Attorney General Gonzalez, Secretary of State Rice and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chertoff as a way of advertising its topic: executive power. Since each of those depicted on the flyer represent the seats of power within the executive branch of the federal government, I was deeply puzzled how Wimberly could classify the flyer or the event as political merely because it depicted these people.
I explained to Mr. Wimberly that I felt that the ACLU and I were being treated in a discriminatory manner inappropriate with the ideals of the American Library Association which has a clear agenda of providing "leadership for the development, promotion, and improvement of library and information services and the profession of librarianship in order to enhance learning and ensure access to information for all."
Wimberly then indicated that it was against the library policies. So, I asked to read those policies. While Wimberly did not provide me with a copy of these policies as requested, he did allow me to read them. No where within the two pages he allowed me to read did it state anything about restricting the posting of flyers. Instead, there was vague and broad language that discussed the focus of the library as a balanced outlet for information. It did not specifically prohibit the posting of any information or flyers, but did indeed reiterate a similar mission statement to that found on the ALA web site.
Officially, according to the library web site, the library policies would allow the display of the ACLU event flyer:
USE OF MEETING ROOMS AND EXHIBIT SPACES
Specifically, the Library Bill of Rights states the following:
At this time I pointed out that not ten feet from the circulation desk was a display holding books about civil liberties, presidential power, the debate on the rights to privacy, the debate on open government as well as a flyer on top of the display urging patrons to run for political office. Ironically, the display included a book on the history of the ACLU and its non-partisan defense of American Liberties. The display even included a book entitled "Stop The War Now" [ISBN: 1-930722-49-4] addressing the war in Iraq.
Mr Wimberly was informed that I felt that there was a matter of public/open access, equal treatment of residents/citizens under law, fairness and legality in his decision and that I would be consulting the legal resources at the ACLU to discuss the matter. It must be understood that the Hammond Public Library receives a lot of funding from the City of Hammond, the State of Indiana and the US Government, as well as private support. As a publicly-funded organization, there are some regulations, principles and fundamental rules that it must adhere to in the process of servicing a community. While the library can restrict borrowing privileges to residents of Hammond, it cannot prevent the general public from using its resources.
I was eventually escorted to meet with the director of the library, Ms. Margaret "Peg" Evans, who greeted me in a rather terse manner, asked me how she could help me, then proceeded to say no without really listening to the issues. She explained that she could choose to post the flyer, but due to its content she would not. I quickly went through all the facts noted above and was told (verbatim) the following:
"If it (the event) were being held in Hammond, or if "WE" wanted people to attend, we would consider posting the flyer." (emphasis was original) I pointed out to her that she had implied that the decision to post a flyer was completely arbitary, a matter of administrative opinion outside of stated policy, and clearly discriminatory against the ACLU. I left her with some words about contacting my colleagues and legal resources from the ACLU.
Needless to say I was upset. I was upset as a committed educator that uses the resources of libraries across the nation for research purposes. I was upset as a citizen and resident of Indiana. I was upset as a member of the ACLU. I was upset as a veteran that served in two branches of military service in defense of the Constitution. I was upset as a taxpayer and as someone that has donated to the Hammond Public Library in the past. I was upset because I have a family member that worked for the Hammond Public Library, retired from that job and was committed to the ideals of the library as an open resources for all people and all types of information. I was upset because of the apparent partisan politics that is practiced as either a de facto process or as a deliberate expression of the political ideologies of the director.
But I will not be filing any action against the Hammond Public Library. Instead, I am writing this post, forwarding it to the library staff, as well as making sure that my family, friends and political leaders in Hammond get word of these events... and I will be exerting political pressure upon the Hammond Library to clarify its policies in writing, practice and ideology... and I will be using every influence I possess to work against the Hammond Public Library until the policies change to allow all public events that are clearly non-partisan in nature are allowed to be advertised (within reason) without obstruction.
So I urge you to withold any and all support of the Hammond Public Library until the policies are changed to suit a full-fledged democracy, where any and all information is freely available, where any educational or community event can receive fair treatment, and the whims of the director are no longer catered to in the process.
On this date (9/8/2006) I went to the library to post a flyer announcing an educational event sponsored by the Calumet Chapter-ACLU of Indiana focusing on the issues of civil liberties involved in the NSA spying programs, the trend toward extreme secrecy in government and the expansion of executive powers by the current Bush administration. The flyer did not have any partisanship expressed on it. There was no indication as to whether the presentation would be offered from a conservative or liberal perspective. The flyer merely announced the title of the event, who was sponsioring it, where and when it would take place, and its title: "Our Freedom At Risk: Spying, Secrecy and Executive Powers"
Respectfully, I went to the circulation desk to make an inquiry as to how and where I could post the flyers. I had only two flyers with me and I wasn't asking for anything that the library doesn't already do... simply posting the flyer to inform the patrons of the library that a community event was taking place.
Most libraries do this sort of posting as a matter of fact, requiring only that a person from the sponsoring organization provide contact information in case of an arising issue. In fact, there were several posters and flyers already on display at the entrance of the library. Indeed, two of those flyers already on display involved activities very similar to the content of the flyer I was seeking to post.
As a side note, the event being advertised in the flyer was being held in Valparaiso, Indiana because that is where we could obtain space on a short notice. The Valparaiso University Law School has a couple of faculty members that were willing to give our program a place and a voice. But the Calumet Chapter of the ACLU of Indiana serves all of Northwest Indiana, including Hammond, East Chicago, Gary, Schererville, Highland, Dyer, Griffith, Whiting, Lake Station, Cedar Lake, St. John, Merrillville, Hobart, Chesterton, Porter, Portage, Valparaiso and all the other identifiable areas of Lake County, Porter County as well as portions of three other counties in Indiana. There is no question that our service area (catchment area) included Hammond and that the topic of the event was pertinent to citizens and residents of Hammond, Indiana.
The first response from the circulation clerk that I approached was that they could not post flyers that involved "politics." Now you have to understand that the flyers I passed on the way to the circulation desk included a library-sponsored voter registration event to be held on September 11. 2006 in conjunction with a presentation by the general counsel for the Hoosier State Press Association and member of the Indiana Coalition for Open Government.
The Hoosier State Press Association is a trade organization with an agenda of promoting the newspapers published in Indiana. It is essentially a lobbying group representing the trade interests of the newspaper industry within the state. It has a legal division that addresses legal issues involving the press, media and legislative issues. It has a political agenda even though it is not a partisan organization, even though most newspapers in Indiana are considered "Republican newspapers."
The Indiana Coalition for Open Government is a group that specifically addresses open government, access for members of the media and the general public to governmental information and records, but has a strong leaning toward supporting the media in general. In addition, the Coalition has a partnership with the ACLU of Indiana, as described and posted on its web site.
The event sponsiored by the library and put on by the HSPA/ICOG member focused on explaining rights under the Open Door Law and the Access to Public Records Act, but it was entitled: Can The Government Do That? What Are My Rights?
Additionally, the flyer for this event advertised that the League of Women Voters of the Calumet Area would be holding a voter registration in conjunction with the event.
So I explained that this was not a "political" event, it was non-partisan and it was educational in nature. I pointed to the fact that it was occurring at one of the most notable universities in Indiana. I made it clear that the Calumet Chapter served all of Northwest Indiana, including Hammond. The circulation clerk referred me to her supervisor, Mr. Ware Wimberly.
The circulation clerk went back to the supervisor's office with the flyer. Mr. Wimberly came out to meet with me and explained that library policies prohibited the posting of my flyer because it was political in nature. I reiterated that it was not a matter of politics, but a community event involving education about the NSA Spying Porgrams, the trends toward secrecy in government (as in Open Door Access and Access to Public Records), and the expansion of presidential/executive powers.
Wimberly stated that it was political because it was the ACLU. I explained to him that the ACLU is a not-for-profit, non-partisan, non-political organization addressing constitutional issues and civil liberties. The ACLU does not endorse candidates, political parties or involve itself in the funding of one political party over the other. I further explained that the event was purely educational in nature.
Wimberly then stated that the event was political because the flyer had photgraphs of President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Attorney General Gonzalez, Secretary of State Rice and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chertoff as a way of advertising its topic: executive power. Since each of those depicted on the flyer represent the seats of power within the executive branch of the federal government, I was deeply puzzled how Wimberly could classify the flyer or the event as political merely because it depicted these people.
I explained to Mr. Wimberly that I felt that the ACLU and I were being treated in a discriminatory manner inappropriate with the ideals of the American Library Association which has a clear agenda of providing "leadership for the development, promotion, and improvement of library and information services and the profession of librarianship in order to enhance learning and ensure access to information for all."
Wimberly then indicated that it was against the library policies. So, I asked to read those policies. While Wimberly did not provide me with a copy of these policies as requested, he did allow me to read them. No where within the two pages he allowed me to read did it state anything about restricting the posting of flyers. Instead, there was vague and broad language that discussed the focus of the library as a balanced outlet for information. It did not specifically prohibit the posting of any information or flyers, but did indeed reiterate a similar mission statement to that found on the ALA web site.
Officially, according to the library web site, the library policies would allow the display of the ACLU event flyer:
USE OF MEETING ROOMS AND EXHIBIT SPACES
In adopting the Library Bill of Rights, the Library is dedicated to the free expression and free access to ideas representing the widest possible points of view
on the problems and issues of our times. The first use of meeting rooms and exhibit spaces is for meetings or programs sponsored or co-sponsored by the
Library. Meeting rooms and exhibit spaces may be used only by organizations for meetings or programs sponsored or co-sponsored by the Library.
Meeting rooms and exhibit spaces may be used only by organizations for meetings, programs, exhibits and notices of an educational, cultural, intellectual,
or civic purpose. Meeting rooms and exhibit spaces may not be used for the benefit of private individuals, commercial purposes, exhibiting a product or service,
or private social occasions. Any organization is allowed to meet in the Library provided all persons are allowed entry without admission charge.
The Library neither endorses nor advocates the viewpoints of organizations which use the meeting rooms or exhibit spaces.
If a meeting room is needed before or after the regular hours of public service, a fee will be charged. This arrangement is dependent on the availability of a
Library staff member.Meetings requiring anticipated increased security will be charged for cost of such security.
Meeting rooms may be used, without charge, as a voting site for government elections.
Specifically, the Library Bill of Rights states the following:
I. Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.
II. Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.
III. Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment.
IV. Libraries should cooperate with all persons and groups concerned with resisting abridgment of free expression and free access to ideas.
V. A person’s right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views.
VI. Libraries which make exhibit spaces and meeting rooms available to the public they serve should make such facilities available on an equitable basis, regardless of the beliefs or affiliations of individuals or groups requesting their use.
Adopted June 18, 1948, by the ALA Council; amended February 2, 1961; January 23, 1980; inclusion of “age” reaffirmed January 23, 1996.
At this time I pointed out that not ten feet from the circulation desk was a display holding books about civil liberties, presidential power, the debate on the rights to privacy, the debate on open government as well as a flyer on top of the display urging patrons to run for political office. Ironically, the display included a book on the history of the ACLU and its non-partisan defense of American Liberties. The display even included a book entitled "Stop The War Now" [ISBN: 1-930722-49-4] addressing the war in Iraq.
Mr Wimberly was informed that I felt that there was a matter of public/open access, equal treatment of residents/citizens under law, fairness and legality in his decision and that I would be consulting the legal resources at the ACLU to discuss the matter. It must be understood that the Hammond Public Library receives a lot of funding from the City of Hammond, the State of Indiana and the US Government, as well as private support. As a publicly-funded organization, there are some regulations, principles and fundamental rules that it must adhere to in the process of servicing a community. While the library can restrict borrowing privileges to residents of Hammond, it cannot prevent the general public from using its resources.
I was eventually escorted to meet with the director of the library, Ms. Margaret "Peg" Evans, who greeted me in a rather terse manner, asked me how she could help me, then proceeded to say no without really listening to the issues. She explained that she could choose to post the flyer, but due to its content she would not. I quickly went through all the facts noted above and was told (verbatim) the following:
"If it (the event) were being held in Hammond, or if "WE" wanted people to attend, we would consider posting the flyer." (emphasis was original) I pointed out to her that she had implied that the decision to post a flyer was completely arbitary, a matter of administrative opinion outside of stated policy, and clearly discriminatory against the ACLU. I left her with some words about contacting my colleagues and legal resources from the ACLU.
Needless to say I was upset. I was upset as a committed educator that uses the resources of libraries across the nation for research purposes. I was upset as a citizen and resident of Indiana. I was upset as a member of the ACLU. I was upset as a veteran that served in two branches of military service in defense of the Constitution. I was upset as a taxpayer and as someone that has donated to the Hammond Public Library in the past. I was upset because I have a family member that worked for the Hammond Public Library, retired from that job and was committed to the ideals of the library as an open resources for all people and all types of information. I was upset because of the apparent partisan politics that is practiced as either a de facto process or as a deliberate expression of the political ideologies of the director.
But I will not be filing any action against the Hammond Public Library. Instead, I am writing this post, forwarding it to the library staff, as well as making sure that my family, friends and political leaders in Hammond get word of these events... and I will be exerting political pressure upon the Hammond Library to clarify its policies in writing, practice and ideology... and I will be using every influence I possess to work against the Hammond Public Library until the policies change to allow all public events that are clearly non-partisan in nature are allowed to be advertised (within reason) without obstruction.
So I urge you to withold any and all support of the Hammond Public Library until the policies are changed to suit a full-fledged democracy, where any and all information is freely available, where any educational or community event can receive fair treatment, and the whims of the director are no longer catered to in the process.
posted by Jim Downey at 7:22 AM
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