Snellville Library Hours Have Changed

As of October 23, the service hours for the Elizabeth H. Williams (Snellville) branch of the Gwinnett Public Library System have changed. The new hours are:

Monday       10 am - 6 pm
Tuesday      12 pm - 8 pm
Wednesday 10 am - 3 pm
Thursday     12 pm - 8 pm
Friday          10 am - 3 pm
Saturday      12 pm - 5 pm
Sunday        12 pm - 5 pm

For more information on new branch hours, see this page of the library system's website.

Library policy changes take effect today

Library Meeting Rooms

A maintenance fee of $20.00 will be charged to groups that reserve a meeting room.

Interlibrary Loan (ILL)

Customers that use the ILL service will be charged $2.00 per title to cover the postage cost to return materials to the lending Library. This charge does not apply to materials owned by and circulated within Gwinnett County Public Library branches.

Lost/Damaged Materials

Refunds will not be issued to customers who have paid for lost or damaged materials.

Library User Account

Library customers are unable to check out materials when their library account balance meets or exceeds $15.00.

• See the Gwinnett County Public Library's website for more information: LINK
  

Altered books contest

Altered books part of National Library Week celebration
The Gwinnett Library System will have an altered books contest...

Library Board Member Arrested on Suspicion of Child Molestation

Gwinnett Library Board Member Arrested On Suspicion Of Child ...
WSBtv.com - Atlanta,GA,USA
A Gwinnett County library board member has been arrested
on child molestation charges. Authorities took
Harry “Brett” Taylor into custody...."

FYI for Parents: Mr. Taylor has also been a Boy Scout Leader.

"...we're asking if anybody has been in contact with Mr. Taylor or their children have been in contact, to please speak with their children and see if there's any inappropriate touching or contact with Mr. Taylor...and if so, to contact our investigators," said Cpl. David Schiralli with the Gwinnett County Police Department."

Sarcasm backfires in email

Excerpt:
A Lawrenceville mother called for the resignation of a Gwinnett County library board member Monday, saying he dismissed her concerns regarding easy access to pornography on the system's computers.....

Brett Taylor, the only member to respond to her complaint until three weeks ago, accused her of misrepresenting what she had seen and suggested she join with him in having Internet access removed from the library entirely. In fact in an e-mail addressed to her, Hardy said, Taylor stated he didn't understand why the library bothers buying books.

"Someone with such disdain for the concerns for the public he serves has no place representing the community on our library board," she said in a packed meeting room at the Five Forks branch.

Full AJC Article

Here's my blog post about this from Monday!

Internet Porn at the Gwinnett Public Library

Imagine visiting the Gwinnett Public Library with your kids. Not a strange occurrence, but imagine now a man using the Library's computers and you glance at the screen and see porn. Not just a picture, but actual film of a sexual act going on.

Well that's what happened to a visitor to the Collins Hill Library Branch* in Lawrenceville recently. She also noted that a boy about 10 years old was sitting next to the man, viewing the same webpage.

"Parents, if you're concerned about what your children see in the library, not just on the Internet or what they do in the library, the library's a public place. And so we do have to ask parents to take some responsibility,” said Boyd.

"I feel like Gwinnett has not taken that step at all to protect the children and they are hiding behind their policy,” said Hardy. AJC Article Link

Rhonda Boyd spoke on behalf of the library system, and I do understand (to a point) the problem of parents just dropping off children at a public place and not supervising them - my point of view having been shaped by working in a college library and from my eleven years working for Waldenbooks. (I could tell you some wild stories! LOL)
I also believe strongly in our First Amendment rights.

BUT, I do agree with Ms. Hardy that the library is "hiding behind their policy."
That's to be expected by most companies, and certainly by the Gwinnett Public Library, a bureaucratic government institution.

I also agree with Ms. Hardy that our taxes should not be going to pay for some guy to sit in the library and view porn. His First Amendment Rights may say he has the right to view porn, but he certainly doesn't have the right to force other people to view it as they pass by. I'm all on supporting his 'rights' as long as his rights don't infringe on anyone else's rights.

Does the Gwinnett Public Library system purchase copies of Penthouse Magazine? (I seriously doubt it)...and if they do, would they sanction someone sitting in the middle of the public library, opening the magazine centerfolds up wide where everyone passing by, even children, could see it? (again, I seriously doubt it)...and I don't see why looking at porn on the Internet in the library in full view should be any different.

Wouldn't viewing pornographic images in view of children be considered by the police under the charge of Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor? If not, I just don't get it.

*Although the branch in question was the Collins Hill Library branch, it's all part of the Gwinnett County Public Library System - the same system and policies we have for libraries in Snellville.