Saturday, July 15, 2006

Wanking in the library

LISNews.org has a post on perverts (aka, men exposing themselves or wanking off) in the Cleveland area public libraries, and suggests that perhaps filters are a good thing after all. I've also heard people comment in horror about this and other news stories.

However, I ask:
  1. What library does not have this problem? Don't be blaming Cleveland, these tales come from everywhere.

  2. Why are you blaming libraries? We let everyone in. That's just the nature of libraries - providing access to information for all. We also can't put up security cameras to catch these people (well, at least most of us can't) because that costs precious money we'd rather spend on programs, books, and other resources. And we can't be spending our time playing detective in the stacks looking for pervs.

  3. What are internet filters going to do? We still have books like The Joy of Sex and Madonna's Sex book. Should we censor those as well? I think not! And what about those pervs who get their kicks from nudes in art books? What then? Censors and filters are not the answer.
I wonder if museums ever have problems with pervs around the nude portraits. Probably not since they need security cameras and lots of guards. I bet it's not just libraries though. Perhaps bookstores, art stores, etc. Now that would be an interesting study.

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