Don’t force librarians into the role of Big Brother

A proposal that would force librarians in both school and public libraries to report to parents what materials their children are taking out is fundamentally flawed.

It presents a danger of undermining rights on a societal level in order to appease an extremist base more concerned with scoring political points than with exercising personal parental responsibility.

The proposal is being championed by Rep. Barbara Dittrich, R-Oconomowoc, and would require public and school libraries to track the books and materials taken out by those under 16 years old and report to the parents of those youths what materials they are checking out.

Wisconsin law regarding public libraries includes strong protections prohibiting lending histories from being made public. The idea behind public libraries in Wisconsin is that people have an absolute right of access to information and that the long arm of the state should not be interfering with that right.

School libraries serve a similar, but slightly different goal of primarily existing to serve as a support for the school’s curriculum as well as being a resource for knowledge and information. Schools have the added role, not present in public libraries, of acting in the role of the parents while the students are in school. This is an important distinction between school and public libraries and the line between the two should not be blurred or forgotten.

The truly troublesome part of proposed legislation is its author views it as being a reasonable compromise measure. Compared to the radical fringes who would seek to have books they disagree with removed from circulation and banned entirely, then perhaps forcing librarians into the role of “Big Brother” would seem reasonable to some. Society is in a sorry state when stripping some fundamental rights on the road to tyranny is being viewed as a workable compromise and palatable alternative to those who would strip all rights and freedoms away — at least for those ideas and concepts they find objectionable or are squeamish about.

Parents have an important role in being the primary educators and role models for their children. Parents are the ones who establish a fundamental moral compass for their children and who help guide them to becoming independent, productive and responsible adults.

If parents want to know what their children are checking out of the library they should be talking to their children and not changing the law to force library employees to serve as snitches or informants.

Rather than trumpeting about a socalled “Parent’s Bill of Rights,” Wisconsin legislators should instead be focusing on ensuring parents are exercising personal responsibility in being active and engaged in their children’s lives so that children feel comfortable talking with their parents about issues and concerns.

What a child reads is between the child and their parents. Forcing library staff into the role of serving as parental informants, no matter how well-intentioned, is a step down a slippery slope to the state dictating what people may read or information they may access.