Community Standards Alive and Well

My name is Kim Borchers, AKA the lady who made a “complaint” to the public library regarding “harmful to minors” material. I’m a graduate of the University of Kansas with a degree in Biology, wife of a local physician, community volunteer and most important the proud mom of 3 amazing kids. I spent the majority of my professional career in the Pharmaceutical industry in middle management and had a short stint in Topeka talk radio from 2004-2005. My husband and I moved to Topeka in the Fall 1997; I quickly fell in love with the town and the people and not long after started our family. I love our public library and for that reason would never have imagined that I would be at odds with some in the library community today. Unfortunately, life presents us with situations that we can choose to ignore because it may lead to some discomfort or we can choose to step out of our comfort zones because the cost of inaction is too great.

I have been involved in the issue of protecting minors from sexually graphic material since 2001. That involvement began when it was brought to my attention by a local legislator that the TSCPL policy permitted minors to check out Playboy magazine for viewing. Now, that was rather puzzling considering a minor could not buy the same periodical. Why wasn’t the governing board of trustees concerned with a potential lawsuit for providing such material. It was at that time that I was enlightened to the fact that in the 1980’s, libraries were giving special protection known as “affirmative defense”. For all us non-lawyers, that means the library is not held liable. I’m sure the legislature had a good reason for making the change, but I’m also certain that they never imagined that public libraries would act so irresponsibly with this special protection. Despite our local pleas to change the policy, it was not until the legislature became involved and dropped the gavel that the policy was changed. It was made quite clear that should the Playboy policy not change, “affirmative defense” would be removed. It was at that time that I began to question the concept of local control at our library.
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Library Board Restricts Books

Growing up, the Topeka and Shawnee County Public library was always a place I cherished. The stacks of books seemed almost unending. Each book was a source of information, challenging me to think in different ways. When I was 12 years old, our library underwent a massive remodel, setting a high standard for other libraries across the country.

Unfortunately, last week, our library board made a decision that embarrassed me greatly. After over two hours of testimonies and discussion, the board voted 5-3 to restrict access to four sex-related books.

This decision was the result of a complaint made by Kim Borchers, leader of Kansans for Common Sense Policy. It was her belief that these books contained content that would be harmful for minors.

Prior to the vote, 16 speakers shared stories of their personal experiences with the public library. Out of those who spoke, 14 urged against censorship, and two argued for it. Several of the speakers nearly brought me to tears.  Although I was disappointed with the outcome of the vote, I left the meeting with a greater understanding of why I treasure our library so much.

We have the great honor to be able to find information on any subject we choose. As we are all very diverse people, our interests will, of course, vary. But our public library provides us with sources to fill any desire we might have. With this freedom comes the risk that some content might not be appropriate for all audiences, but it is the responsibility of parents to instill in their children the ability to make appropriate judgments.

As it states in the name, our library was established to benefit the public of Topeka and Shawnee County. By giving in to the complaint of one citizen, the board has opened the floodgates allowing anyone to call for removal of a book simply because they disagree with the content. Rather than working to please a small minority, I believe that our library board should cast unbiased votes in order to serve the interest of the general public.

It is my hope that we haven’t heard the last of this decision. I implore the library board to reconsider this disappointing ruling before any legal action is taken. By reversing their vote, the board could redeem our library’s reputation as a true gem in which Topekans can have pride.

kelly1Special thanks to Kelly Jacobsen, our guest blogger, a native Topekan and first year student at Washburn University.

What would you like to ask the local candidates?

TransformTopeka is going to put together a candidate survey for the General Election and post it on our Candidate Information Page.  This is your chance to find out where candidates stand on issues important to you before you cast your vote on April 7.  Please reply to this post with your question, or submit questions to contact@transformtopeka.com by 9pm on Saturday, February 28, 2009.  We will put together the surveys and send to the candidates and post their responses on our webpage.  Thank you for making your voice heard and helping us to make a difference in the community by helping to create informed voters.

Meet the Candidates WebPage

TransformTopeka has created a new page to provide candidate information regarding the 2009 Local Elections.  Please check it out at by clicking here or clicking on the tab at the top of this page.  If you have any suggestions for us, please let us know.

Leadership Greater Topeka – Session 1

So I am a little late in posting this, but none the less, wanted to continue to share my LGT experiences with everyone.  The first regular session of LGT was Firday, Feb 13th at Blue Cross Blue Shield, who graciously hosted us.  In the morning, we went over a timeline of the last 60 or so years of Topeka history (here is a version of the Topeka Timeline a previous LGT grad put together).  I learned some interesting things about Topeka, and I think it is helpful to always know what has happened in the past to bring us to where we are now.  Read the rest of this entry »

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