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Library filter opponents strike at Illinois bill

Librarians opposing a state bill that proposes mandating library Internet filtering are staging a "protest" of sorts today, collaborating on an Internet "shutdown" in their facilities for the "Day of Unity." The liberal American Library Association and its Illinois affiliate are the primary coordinators of this protest of HB 1727, a bill which passed the Illinois House and is now in the State Senate.



Many local library directors, claiming infringement on local right-of-decision on access, prohibitive cost of installation, and detriment to the poor have pledged publicly to carry out the Internet "shutdown," posting messages on a board at www.illinoislibraryday.info. Meanwhile, pro-family groups are sounding the alarm on the Day of Unity and setting forth the opposition's argument points.

Denise Varenhorst, president of Family Friendly Libraries, says the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the use of filters is not an infringement of First Amendment rights if allowing for controlled access. Also, she says the argument that installing Internet filters is not affordable is a misleading one, because of the availability of federal funds.

"If libraries filter in compliance with the Children's Internet Protection Act, they are eligible for substantial discounts," Varenhorst explains, even up to 90 percent of their costs, or an average of $17,000 per library system.

The Illinois Family Institute says taxpayer resources inside the library, including staff, office machines, and computers, are being used for the protest, and that Internet service is being denied to the public for "an extremist agenda that the public does not support."