The American Family Association, which has already targeted Holland and Hudsonville in its campaign to censor the Internet in public libraries, has now turned its sights on Midland’s Grace A. Dow Memorial Library.
This is especially interesting since the library already has filters on its computers terminals in the children’s areas. The head of the Michigan chapter of the AFA, Gary Glenn, claims that’s not good enough. He wants most computers in the adult section to be filtered too, and he apparently wants the library to supervise access to the unfiltered computer. An article on January 31, 2000, in the Midland (Michigan) Daily News, quoted Glenn as saying, "Our goal is to have all Michigan libraries, including the Grace A. Dow Memorial Library, filter Internet access on all terminals, except for one, which must be authorized for use by adults only." Glenn is also demanding that the unfiltered terminal have a disclaimer on it, saying that the computer affords access to pornographic sites.