10 Ways to Create a Family Friendly Library

1. Envision. Begin with a vision for what a "family-friendly" public library should be. Family Friendly Libraries (FFL) believes such a library would support:
   • Emphasis on Traditional Family -- That the most important and superior unit of civil society is the traditional family, i.e. a mother and father married to each other, committed to a lifetime monogamous relationship and to caring responsibly together for their children.
   • Parental Library Rights -- That parents should have primary authority over the lives and activities, including library activities, of their minor children.
   • Respect for Standards and Laws -- That "community standards" and statutory laws, local, state and federal, are relevant to the selection, display, and access policies concerning materials in the public library system.
   • Concern for Minors -- That minor patrons - kids under 18 - have sensibilities and vulnerabilities different from that of adults and deserving of protection.
   • Parent and Citizen Participation - That regular communication with parents and other concerned citizens is a necessary and important part of maintaining a library that successfully serves the needs of families without undermining their strength.
2. Research. Find the facts on your public library system by obtaining copies of its key documents with information on your system's governing board, policies, funding, and collection development. Obtain copies or summaries of your community and state sexuality codes, laws protecting minors, community standards, educational standards, and parental rights. Visit relevant Internet web sites of friendly and unfriendly organizations and send for their pertinent literature. Educating yourself on the American Library Association and their licentious political and cultural agenda is particularly important.
3. Personalize. Identify your own legislators and policy makers. Obtain the identities of your relevant appointed and elected officials - local, state and federal - and information about how to contact them. Get to know their voting records, personal philosophies, and decision-making staff
4. Evaluate. Identify the strengths and weaknesses of your library system by comparing your library's philosophy and policies to the key principles of the "family-friendly" vision.
5. Organize. Share what you've learned with other like-minded parents and citizens, with the goal of forming a core group willing to work together to improve your local library system.
6. Plan. Together, draw up your list of concerns and prioritize them, describing as clearly as possible what the desired solutions would be and practical ideas for their implementation.
7. Act. Take your concerns and suggestions through your library system's governing "chain of command," with friendly but firm insistence that what you believe is right and necessary. Keep careful records and always have at least one other friendly "witness" with you.
8. Expand. If the system is not cooperative, and especially if it is hostile, seek opportunities to share your materials and plans more widely with other community groups, churches, synagogues, civic organizations, etc. Include the press, where appropriate, such as public library board meetings or city council meetings, where presentations are made or votes taken on the issues you raise. Consider using petitions, flyers, letters-to-the-editor and other public forums to increase public awareness of your concerns. Handouts should be concise, clear, civil and accurate.
9. Don't forget that the ballot box is the ultimate opportunity for you to affect public policy - including public library policy -- by selecting moral and ethical leaders and de-selecting those less honorable. Volunteer, if necessary, to help get good people into office. Consider running yourself someday, or at least keep an open mind about accepting an appointment to your local library board when a seat becomes vacant.
10. Persevere. In the battle to restore decent limits and common sense to public libraries, remember that you are protecting your children, your tax money, and your community. Public libraries are supposed to answer to you - not to the American Library Association. The moral and cultural down slide of the American public library system has occurred gradually but steadily over nearly three decades of ALA political and cultural activism. It cannot be undone and corrected with a few petitions or focus meetings. Expect change to require time, diligence, persistence, and hard work.

1. Increase awareness in the community of the need to protect children from harmful or age inappropriate materials in public libraries.
2. Increase awareness in the community that taxpayer funded public libraries belong to the local taxpayers and their local libraries should reflect their needs and values.
3. Build and nurture a healthy and respectful working relationship between parents, taxpayers, librarians and concerned citizens and library Boards of Trustees as well as those who appoint library Trustees.
4. Encourage Trustees to develop "hands on" policies that reflect local needs, values, concerns and parental rights rather than adopting a "one size fits all" nationwide approach or a blanket set of policies.
5. Where policies exist that permit unlimited access of adult material to children, work within the system to change those policies.
6. Where policies exist that exclude or stifle democracy, reasonable public comments, debate or input at monthly Trustee board meetings, work within the system to change those policies.
7. Where found, concerned citizens should encourage Trustees to eliminate bias on controversial issues.
8. Engage in public debate those who believe:
   1. What children see and hear does not affect a child's behavior.
   2. A child should have first amendment rights to see or hear anything they choose regardless of parental concerns.
9. Urge those who appoint Library Trustees to select persons who believe:
   1. Children should be protected from harmful or age inappropriate material.
   2. Community needs and values should be treated with respect and importance.
   3. Parental rights are paramount.
10. Educate taxpayers and citizens that government and unauthorized censorship is wrong and that it is important to resist this form of censorship.
11. Urge those who appoint Library Trustees to appoint persons who understand the true.
12. Create a national center for research, resource and educational materials that is available to parents, taxpayers and other concerned citizens.
13. Establish a national speakers bureau and a national list of like-minded persons who desire to work together cooperatively to protect children and build a better library system.
14. Coordinate efforts with all local and national organizations who share similar purposes and objectives.