Group Pickets Post Falls Library Protesters Say Library Board Doesn’T Do Enough To Protect Children From R-Rated Videotapes

Four residents stood in the cold Tuesday morning holding signs that described Post Falls Public Library as a “porno palace.”

A library board policy allows children of any age to borrow R-rated videotapes, and that’s morally corrupt, the protesters said. They plan to pass out fliers all week to show opposition to the policy.

“I don’t appreciate a library board that is helping to turn this nation upside down,” said Pat Kilpatrick, a resident of Post Falls and organizer of the protest. “We’ll win this one. We will.”

But few residents have expressed concern about the library’s policy that upholds freedom of information for everyone, said Joe Reiss, the library’s director. Reiss said he has received three letters from residents supporting the board’s decision to allow kids to borrow videotapes.

Inside the new $2 million library, more than a dozen children listened during a weekly story hour. Many checked out kids’ videos before going home with their parents.

Outside, talk of a petition to show the community’s outrage about the board’s decision is beginning, Kilpatrick said. Opponents are asking local churches for support.

“Their argument has been they haven’t been getting any complaints,” Kilpatrick said. “We figured that was hard to believe. … A lot of it is bringing it to the public’s attention.”

Kilpatrick is a grandfather who listens to Laura Schlessinger’s radio show regularly. When she asked listeners to look into their local libraries’ policies, Kilpatrick did. To his dismay, he found out kids could check out the library’s 28 R-rated videos.

Reiss, the library’s director for the past 12 years, said he felt “deep regret for the divisiveness that has arisen.” The small group simply is directing its fears and societal angers toward the library board, he said.

“The library board has been demonized and insulted in the process,” he said.

In September 1999, Kilpatrick argued that the city should install filtering software to keep people from accessing inappropriate Web pages at the library. The City Council didn’t act on his request.

“When taken to the people, they just don’t believe it’s happening,” Kilpatrick said while passing out fliers that call the policy absurd.

And the library board’s proposed solution to the problem won’t work, Kilpatrick said.

The board decided to re-examine its video collection and policies, and work with library staff members to better define what is added to the video collection and why. It decided to keep a full list of the R-rated videos current and available to patrons, as well as reviews of the films. Any parents can have a child’s card marked, after a written request. The marked card would result in denial of video privileges.

Protesters think the library should adhere to the Motion Picture Association of America’s policies, which local movie theaters and video rental stores abide by. Restrictions for R-rated movies say anyone under 17 must have an accompanying parent or guardian.

And the board shouldn’t punish kids by not letting them borrow children’s videos, Kilpatrick said.

When the board meets again Monday, some revisions may be made, Reiss said.

“The board is listening to arguments about the process to modify it a bit,” Reiss said. “I think as far as denying all kids access to anything in the library - that’s not going to happen.”

R-rated films at the library include “The Joy Luck Club,” “Schindler’s List” and “Glory.” The library doesn’t keep records of card holders’ ages, so there’s no way of knowing how many children check out the videos, Reiss said. That section of the library is used minimally by children, he added.

What’s most important, Reiss said, is the library’s selection of what videotapes it offers to residents. Films are selected for their subject matter and specific themes.

“What we wouldn’t do is buy any video that doesn’t seem to have an appropriate use,” Reiss said. “We look for a reason for everything to be in the collection.”

But “Pretty Woman,” a film in which actress Julia Roberts portrays a prostitute, is pure pornography, said Ted Corder, a father of four boys who stood outside with Kilpatrick.

“There used to be community standards,” Corder said, who hopes board members will resign because “they’re doing an injustice” by allowing the films to be checked out by kids.

Others don’t agree.

“They want to impose their standards on me, and I resent that,” said Sheila Wood, a resident who declined to take a flier from the group.

“I don’t believe in sequestering people from information as a way of protecting them,” she said. “People need to think for themselves.”