Elliot Mincberg will speak on behalf of The People for the American Way . Iris Newman is President of the Friends of the Library, Philadelphia City Institute Library and William R. Gordon is Executive Director of the 61,000 member American Library Association headquartered in Chicago. Filters are contrary to the mission of the public library, which is to provide access to the broadest range of information for a community of diverse individuals. Filters block access to critical, constitutionally protected speech related to many subject areas. Filters have been shown to block access to medical information, political information and information related to the arts and literature.
Librarians care deeply about children .
Libraries already have policies and programs to ensure children have an enriching and safe online experience . More than 95 percent of public libraries have Internet-use policies that were created with community input and local control, and they offer classes on how to use the Internet to get good information. In our libraries, we find kids use the Internet the same way they use other library services. They work on homework assignments, read about sports, music and other interests, and communicate with their friends. The vast majority of children and adults continue to use the library responsibly and appropriately.