Laura Bush and the American Library Association

s you know, at the January 31 meeting of the Board of Trustees, Don Wagner led the board in ending our two colleges' memberships in the American Library Association (ALA), owing to the organization's "partisan" nature and its alleged willingness to make pornography available to children. ALA is, he said, a bunch of "liberal busybodies."

Listen to Wagner's original motion:

Subsequent discussion--Milchiker, Lang, Wagner, Fuentes:

At the subsequent (February 27) BOT meeting, however, Trustees Padberg and Jay sought to reconsider the matter. Trustees Lang, Milchiker, Jay, and Padberg rejected as inaccurate Mr. Wagner's characterization of the ALA's position concerning children and pornography.

Even so, Wagner and Fuentes managed to put off the reconsideration until the March 27 BOT meeting. They needed time to prepare, they said.

During the February 27 meeting, Trustee Fuentes expressed his grave concerns regarding "pornography." (See earlier blog.) He seemed to side with Wagner's view that the ALA favors making porn available to kids.

But other trustees suggested that ALA is not the sort of organization that would advocate that.

Trustee Jay said that he had heard that former librarian Laura Bush, the First Lady, is a member of ALA. He had heard, too, that her husband is a member.

After a Google search, I could not confirm that the President is a member of ALA.

It is clear, however, that the First Lady has many ties to that organization.

found an old website for Texas Governor Bush (Governor Bush) that informs us that wife Laura "serves on several boards, including the advisory board of the American Library Association's Office of Intellectual Freedom...."


That Laura was on an ALA board designed to protect intellectual freedom is ironic, for, as First Lady, though she has remained cozy with ALA, she has also distanced herself from the ALA's opposition to CIPA (the Children's Internet Protection Act), legislation that requires that "filters" be placed on library computers--supposedly thereby preventing access to pornographic sites.

Naturally, the ALA opposes CIPA on familiar free speech/free access grounds (it appears that CIPA filters such sites for all users, not just children). They recognize that minors' access to internet porn is a concern, but they reject CIPA's ham-fisted approach.

For similar reasons, ALA opposes elements of the Patriot Act as well. Mr. Wagner mentioned that during the January meeting.

I found an interview with Jim Lehrer in which the First Lady discusses CIPA and the ALA (Lehrer interviews First Lady):

May 11, 2001:

LAURA BUSH: Well, I think there's actually legislation or a law that has to do with libraries, public libraries or school libraries, making sure that there's a filter on the Internet on computers that children have access to. I see the point of that. I understand that people don't want their children to be exposed to pornography, for instance, that might be on the Internet. I think librarians always have picked materials that are appropriate for their audience. Children's librarians, for instance, pick good children's books that are appropriate for children, and so I can see why the - why some people want there to be Internet filters -- so that children see material that's appropriate for children.

JIM LEHRER: The American Library Association, among others, object to this very strongly -

LAURA BUSH: That's right.

JIM LEHRER: -- on First Amendment grounds. What is your own view?

LAURA BUSH: Well, I think that - I actually think that they should use things that make the Internet appropriate for children on computers that children have access to.

Despite the First Lady's support of CIPA (and her husband's administration's support of the Patriot Act), about a year ago, the ALA, citing her work to promote libraries, honored Laura with a citation, which she unreservedly accepted.

Some ALA members have cried foul and have accused ALA leadership of "sycophancy."

As far as I know, however, the "citation" has not been rescinded.