http://www.acrl.org/ala/alonline/currentnews/newsarchive/2005abc/september2005abc/upperarlington.cfm

Ohio Library Retains Gay Weeklies Despite Protests

The board of the Upper Arlington (Ohio) Public Library has voted unanimously to retain for free distribution the gay-interest periodicals Outlook Weekly and Gay People’s Chronicle, although trustees agreed that the weeklies’ location be moved to a more secure area of the library. “We are a public library receiving tax dollars and have an obligation to provide materials and not censor those materials on a content basis,” stated trustee John Burtch at the board’s August 30 meeting.

A report explaining the reasons for the materials’ relocation noted, “We have learned that some controversial material is being taken in bulk, so as to prevent distribution to other patrons”—an apparent allusion to resident Mark Bloom’s June 14 admission to trustees that he and his four children had been throwing copies of the two periodicals in the trash.

Citing advice from legal counsel as well as library staff, the document explains how circulating community newspapers fit into the library’s mission: “Free access to material can raise public awareness of issues, help people become better informed, and provide them the tools necessary to form their own opinions.” It goes on to say, “One of the most important First Amendment principles is that government may not prohibit expression because of the viewpoint expressed.”

Opponents of the weeklies’ presence in the library disrupted the August 30 meeting by reading passages from Outlook Weekly and Gay People’s Chronicle; some people were removed by police officers after refusing to stop. “The materials are lewd, salacious, lascivious—and a bunch of other big words of legal significance,” resident Bruce Cameron said in the September 1 Chillicothe Gazette, adding, “In normal parlance, [they’re] disgusting, obscene, and pornographic.”

Posted September 2, 2005.