When joining up to the Bindoon Library, there is a check box on the membership form that states ‘I agree to comply with the library code of conduct as stated on the back of this document’. Like with most T&Cs, people tend to simply check the box and move on without reading them. For most people, this will never present a problem. However, there is a very important aspect to our Code of Conduct that is pertinent to events happening in WA right now.
Under the Children in the Library section, it states ‘The supervision of reading and viewing activities and attendance at library programs by children and young people under 18 is primarily the responsibility of their parent or caregiver’.
I highlight this after the issues currently affecting the Albany Public Library. The TLDR (Too Long, Didn’t Read) version of the situation is that a group calling themselves Keeping Children Safe Albany have formed to protest two sex education titles in the Young Adult section of the library. They claim that they are not suitable for inclusion in a public library and are demanding that the local government investigate ‘the promotion of sexualising children in the City of Albany through unrestricted books in the Town Library’.
These books are not in the junior kindy section. They are not in the fiction section. They are not Mills and Boon romance novels. They are educational books that have been professionally catalogued by librarians (who undergo at least four years of university training) and shelved in the appropriate section.
Are these books kept behind lock and key so unsuspecting children don’t read them? No, but neither are Stephen King novels, or David Baldacci novels, or any other book on the shelf that hasn’t been written for toddlers and small children. Ultimately, parents have the right to not allow their children to borrow those books, but parents are also expected to supervise their children in a public space. Because that’s what a library is – a public space. Library staff are not babysitters and we are not expected to supervise your children. You are.
If a member has an issue with where in the library a title is shelved, we welcome you to speak to library staff about it. Mistakes do happen. We’re happy to investigate and ensure that the item is shelved correctly. Ultimately however, the Intellectual Freedom Policy of the State Library of WA applies to our collection and states:
The State and Local Government Agreement for the Provision of Public Library Services in Western Australia establishes the way in which State and Local Governments work together to deliver public library services across the State. One of the guiding principles of the agreement states, “Access to information and ideas, free of censorship and the influence of sectional interests, will be unrestricted, within legal and regulatory obligations.”
Public libraries are for everyone. There are books in my library that I would never read as they don’t align with my own morals and values. However, I respect the fact that they are available for those who do wish to read them. At the end of the day, it’s really very simple.
Don’t like? Don’t read.
