DOLAN SUPPORTS HIKIND'S BID TO REMOVE CHILDREN’S ACCESS TO LIBRARY PORNOGRAPHY

NEWS FROM
ASSEMBLYMAN DOV HIKIND

August 7, 2013

Contact: Yehudah Meth                                                       For Immediate Release
718-853-9616 (office)

DOLAN SUPPORTS HIKIND'S BID TO REMOVE CHILDREN’S ACCESS TO LIBRARY PORNOGRAPHY

CALLS CHILDREN’S EASY ACCESS TO PORNOGRAPHY
‘SHOCKING AND REGRETTABLE’

Archbishop Timothy Michael Cardinal Dolan is supporting Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn) in a quest to remove children’s access to pornographic materials in New York City Libraries.

Last month, Assemblyman Hikind and a coalition of concerned parents expressed their shock and indignation at learning that even the smallest children can easily obtain inappropriate materials that no retailer would ever allow a child to hold. In a press conference, Hikind noted that he was not asking for censorship of any books for adults who wanted them. “The issue is removing these books from the ready access of children,” he said.

Yesterday, the Archbishop added his voice to the issue, calling the matter shocking and regrettable “how easily children are able to attain such pornography.”

“I have heard back from the various heads of the New York City Libraries,” said Hikind, “and I am disappointed that they do not seem to see the problem. Rather than take responsibility and address this, they cite the mission of statement of the American Library Association which states, in part, ‘Libraries should not limit the selection and development of library resources simply because minors will have access to them.’ Again—we are not asking them to limit their collection or censor their materials—just to remove it from the reach of children!”

Following complaints by constituents, Assemblyman Hikind’s staff surveyed numerous branches of the public library in Brooklyn where they found such inappropriate titles as Best Gay Erotica, Lux’s Practical Erotica Adventure, and Girls Who Score: Hot Lesbian Erotica, all clearly within reach of small children.

Under the library’s current system, children can check out any library book once they are 13 years of age—or even younger if parents did not realize such material was available when library cards were created for their children. Books can also be automatically checked out without the likelihood of any interaction with an adult librarian.

“Because of the way fiction books are placed on library shelves, inappropriate books often end up on the very bottom shelves, clearly within reach of the smallest children,” said Hikind. “This kind of content would never be allowed in schools nor placed within a child’s reach by retailers. Certainly our public libraries can do more to keep such books out of the reach of unsuspecting children.”

Assemblyman Hikind has also called on Mayor Michael Bloomberg; Dr. Merryl Tisch, Chancellor of the Board of Regents; and Dennis Walcott, Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education, to address this issue.

Even small children have easy access to pornographic books at Brooklyn Public Library branches.