OUR VIEW: Weigh library restrictions carefully

2-5-2008 Massachusetts:

As New Bedford seeks to improve security at its public libraries following the rape of a 6-year-old boy Jan. 30, the trustees must weigh the fundamental freedom of library access — including access by ex-convicts and the homeless — against the right of children and other patrons to expect a safe environment.

Mayor Scott W. Lang is seeking no-trespass orders against all of the city's Level 3, and possibly Level 2, sex offenders.

He asked the trustees yesterday to approve a system that would require every patron to have valid photo identification in addition to a library card or guest pass. Patrons would have to swipe their cards to enter or leave the library.

In a cash-strapped system, the information from those cards would probably be used only to identify people after a crime has taken place, much the way the library's security cameras are used today. But the potential to infringe on individual freedom by monitoring library activity should raise concerns among the trustees.

I.D. cards have questionable preventative value. Almost anyone could get an I.D. card and enter the library. But the cards could be used to enforce no-trespass orders against sex offenders like the Level 3 offender accused in the rape.

Barring any group from using a public library is virtually without precedent. Nadine Mitchell, chief librarian in Lynn, warns that denying anyone access to the library violates state law and would likely result in decertification of a library, loss of grants and removal from the interlibrary loan system.

Yet libraries are not without rules. Bad behavior on the premises, such as viewing Internet porn or harassing other patrons, can result in a no-trespass order. In general, sex offenders are already barred from entering schools. Should the same apply to libraries, where children often go without their parents?

If New Bedford seeks to bar an entire class of people from the libraries, it could have a legal battle on its hands. What the final outcome should be, it is too soon to say. But we applaud Mayor Lang and the library trustees for investigating changes that could make a meaningful difference in safety at the libraries.

Massachusetts courts should take a hard look at the system that allowed the suspect, Corey Deen Saunders, to go free in spite of his history of sexual aggression. But the courts can only do so much to predict whether a convict will reoffend. Cities like New Bedford must take steps to protect the public from the inevitable presence of sex offenders in the community.

In the short term, the city is apt to beef up traditional means of security by adding more guards, cameras and monitors.

In Springfield, the main library is part of a campus of city museums. They share a security staff of 40 and a control room where surveillance video is monitored 24 hours a day.

New Bedford Library Director Stephen Fulchino cautions, though, that video surveillance is imperfect. "If nothing happens except every three years, you're going to miss it," he says.

Springfield's head of library security, Roger Plasse, would like to go beyond surveillance. He has asked for permission to eject sex offenders from the library, but the Library Commission considers it a violation of civil liberties, he said.

We shall see whether New Bedford sees things differently. ..more.. by