Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Library Insider Linda Zec Gives Scoop on Porn in Libraries

Linda Zec
Here is Orland Park Public Library (link) former employee Linda Zec speaking on her experiences as the target of sexual harassment resulting from that library refusing to filter out porn.

Her experiences include library management misleading the media and telling her to not let the door hit her on way out if she wants to quit "with no hard feelings."  "I could like it or lump it."
I was told by Director Weimar that porn was protected under freedom of speech. I wanted to get the info out there so the public realizes that their taxes were paying for potential pedophiles, rapists, and other generally creepy folk to stop on by and use the computers on a taxpayer's dime.
From the caption written by Megan Fox (link) on the video:

Published on Nov 19, 2013:

This is PART FOUR in a series of videos filmed at the Orland Park Public Library's Board Meeting on 11/18/13.  In this video Linda Zec, a former library employee, delivers an inside look at what really goes on inside the library.  She gives all the details on the porn openly viewed there and rebuts some of the lies that the library spokesperson has been telling in the library district's efforts to hide the truth from the public.  Linda Zec ran for the library board in the past and hopefully will run again in the future so she can deliver an insider's perspective on how to clean up the library's ongoing porn problem.


That video was so shocking it even made the news:
The below shows the American Library Association implying Linda Zec was not sexually harassed, no librarian ever was despite all the lawsuits and major settlements, and no librarian ever will be.  Of course, it is ALA's own policy applied locally that results in librarians and library employees being sexually harassed by unfettered porn and child porn viewers, so naturally ALA would say, nothing to see here, move along:
Here is a transcript of what Linda Zec said in the above-linked YouTube video.  It really is shocking:

TRANSCRIPT OF LINDA ZEC
ORLAND PARK PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD MEETING
18 NOVEMBER 2013

Linda Zec: I speak to you all tonight on a subject that I have stayed relatively quiet about over the last seven to eight years since my discovery of it: porn in libraries, specifically my library.  The library which I am an avid user, supporter, and ex-employee.  The library that not only watched my sons grow up but so many neighborhood kids.

As I just stated, I am a former employee and I worked under the direction of Sharon [inaudible 00:30] at the time, assistant director Mary Weimar, and Mike, who was my IT head of my department.  I worked along many wonderful people, some of whom still work at the OPPL.  I worked in the adult IT area, the area that's in controversy right now.

I tried to stay quiet but due to recent public statements by the library on radio and TV, I find myself breaking my silence.

I do not know Ms. Fox, and as I stated before, I don't even care how she came across the knowledge of porn at the OPPL.

The truth is, it exists.  It exists to a point that I as an employee was able to easily recognize the creepy, "regular"—I put that in quotations—patrons, and on which days they were most likely to enter.

I also finally speak out because after conversations that I had while I was employed at the OPPL with my director and assistant director, I was told that I could quit if I did not like their policy, with no hard feelings.  Truthfully, that stayed with me after all these years.  It bothered me that I, a relatively intelligent person with high moral background and terrific worth ethic, was being told I could like it or lump it.

Director Weimar, who's office is behind locked doors, never had to endure sitting in the presence of porn watchers for hours, or then have them suddenly look up at you and stare at you.  I can't tell you the number of times I would say "Creepy" or "I am so creeped out" to my coworkers, or take off for the solitude of the classroom and leave my coworkers just so I could regain my thoughts. It did not make for a pleasant atmosphere.

I am not only a former employee, but I am also a taxpayer here.  I'm a real stakeholder.  I realize that this controversy does not lie with just OPPL, but with libraries across the country.

I was told by Director Weimar that porn was protected under freedom of speech.  I wanted to get the info out there so the public realizes that their taxes were paying for potential pedophiles, rapists, and other generally creepy folk to stop on by and use the computers on a taxpayer's dime.

I was basically told, as I sat in then Assistant Director Weimar's office, to leave it alone.  I took her stern warnings as, "You cause trouble, you lose your job," which I really did not want to do because I really enjoyed being part of the library family.  I just did not like the pervs [air quotes] that came in and made me feel uncomfortable.

However, my husband did want me to quit.  So eventually, after enough complaining, I did so.

The library is a relatively safe atmosphere, but most people assume it's totally safe.  It's not.  It's not the atmosphere that one expects with their tax dollars.  It's a place that, because of the lack of proper computer usage policies, people will sit for hours to view pornographic images, and I mean hours.

Another pathetic note: we had patrons that would come in job hunting only to be turned away because the computers were in use.  I'm not saying that they were all in use because everybody was watching pornography.  Some were there that just maybe should not have been for a long time.

As a taxpayer, I want my money spent wisely, not carelessly.  Porn has no place and serves zero purpose in the library, none.  Please stop going public and saying OPPL does not allow obscenity, because I can describe some pretty sexually graphic images that I saw.

And if the library board and the directors are all fine with the decision to allow unfiltered internet on taxpayer computers then please at least have the guts to stop trying to cover it up.  Let it be known that some images viewed in the adult computer area may not be suitable for children under 18 and that some of the images may be sexually graphic in nature.  Make it known that you are fully aware of the possibility that people may view things that may be disturbing to them.  Don't go on radio or TV trying to make the library sound so G-rated and then some of the images on the computers are clearly XXX-rated.  Sure, downstairs at the OPPL little kids are having fun while upstairs the big kids were having their version of fun.

As for computer screen filters, I'm talking about front of the screen so you can't see, that's a joke.  This is a public place.  There is no privacy due to anybody that comes to a public place to look on a public computer.  You are not, you are not, you are not.  These are public computers.

As a person that was subject at times to less than desirable ...

Speaker 2: Time. [inaudible 00:05:10]

Linda Zec: Done?

Speaker 3: Done.

Linda Zec: [inaudible 00:05:17] I'm sorry

Multiple: [crosstalk 00:05:25]

Linda Zec: Thank you so much.  I appreciate that.  Just two lines.  As a person that was subject at times to less than desirable work conditions and is still bothered by it, and as a taxpaying patron, I find no value in allowing porn in our library.  I appeal to the library board to consider filters in the adult area and a strong, no-porn policy for the safety of patrons and staff.

[Applause.]

### 30 ###

NOTE:  Linda Zec used to write this blog but abandoned it.  I picked it up when Google allowed.  I will use it to write about sexual harassment in public libraries that occurs as a direct result of following ALA diktat to allow unfettered Internet access.  Linda Zec is an example of a victim of that very policy.  She was victimized not only by porn viewing patrons but also by a child porn enabling library director like Mary Weimar in OPPL.  Yes, child porn.  OPPL has been covering it up for years and has taken steps to continue covering it up, even winning awards for its illegal actions.

Linda Zec does not like anyone writing about her, so I apologize to her ahead of time, but this issue is too important to keep silent about.  ALA has been keeping silent about it for a very long time.  It's time to speak up.  I've been writing about these kinds of incidents for years.  Now I have a separate blog dedicated to this very topic and I invite contributors.

By the way, today, for the third year in a row, ALA has been named as one of the nation's leading contributors of sexual exploitation, the Dirty Dozen list (link).  Linda Zec is an example.

SEXUALLY HARASSED LIBRARIANS ARE WELCOME TO CONTACT ME AND PUBLISH ANONYMOUSLY OR OPENLY HERE.  ALA WILL NOT HELP YOU.


NOTE ADDED 22 JANUARY 2015:

I have to add a note now that ALA members have chosen to publicly criticize me personally for writing this blog post and to hell with the issue of sexually harassed librarians.  Here's an example:


The issue of sexual harassment of librarians is basically never addressed by ALA, ALA media like American Libraries, nor library media generally, like the Library Journal.  While I have been writing about it for many years, library media almost completely ignores it.  Until today when they found I said, "Linda Zec does not like anyone writing about her."

ALA has let the problem of the sexual harassment of librarians just fester.  Finally, some librarians calling themselves "#TeamHarpy" on Twitter are raising the issue and librarians are finally talking about it, and even Library Journal has written about Team Harpy, but Team Harpy is only interested in the limited context of a single male librarian supposedly harassing dozens of women at library conferences.  Not in the context I raise of the nationwide sexual harassment of librarians due to library porn viewers where that porn is only there in the first place due to ALA policy and despite the law.

Librarians are really afraid of speaking out against ALA's "Office for Intellectual Freedom" that spreads the pro childporn policy nationwide.  Yes, pro childporn.  And when they hear me do it, a few attack, like Andy Woodworth did.

Here's Jeff Regensburger joining in:


Of all the intolerant people in the world, the free speech librarians can be the worst.  One library employee is even suing me for defamation for writing this about her homophobia:


So when I step outside the boundaries of ALA and library media's ability to shush me and shush the topic of sexual harassment of librarians attributable to ALA itself, such as by using a Twitter hashtag, that must not be tolerated and I must be ridiculed.  Like this librarian, Nicholas Schiller:


So now I've been called "really awful" and everyone's told that I don't "give a damn about the victim's requests."  Nevermind that they completely ignore the issue of sexual harassment. 

Allow me to respond.

Librarians and library media are absolutely silent on the sexual harassment of librarians caused by ALA itself, except in rare pieces where the person being harassed is essentially ridiculed for saying so.  That's for fear of ALA, among other reasons.  Just look, for example, how I'm being treated and the issue is being ignored just for my writing about it.  It's bullying, plain and simple, only I'm not intimidated because I can't lose my volunteer librarian "job."

Linda Zec made a public statement in a public meeting at a public library that allows and covers up child pornography in accordance with ALA policy.  Yes, child pornography, the library has even finally admitted to it and to the coverup.

Linda Zec spoke about 1) how she was sexually harassed,  2) how it was directly tied to unfettered porn in that library, 3) how her library management spouted the ALA's "porn is free speech in public libraries" mantra, and 4) how she was told to get out if she does not like being harassed.  She was given a whopping five minutes to say this and was even cut off mid sentence when she hit the five minute mark.  Go ahead, watch the video.  Even Linda was not allowed to speak at some point.

Further, Linda Zec herself said that, referring to the library, "This is a public place.  There is no privacy due to anybody that comes to a public place...."  So she knows her public statements in a public meeting at a public library are public and in the public domain.  As they are in the public domain, I may write about them even if Linda Zec would prefer I didn't.

I said, "Linda Zec does not like anyone writing about her," and that is correct.  But:
  • given the circumstances in which I am using her words to expose sexual harassment in libraries that directly results from ALA policy, her not liking people to write about her weighs less heavily in the balance.  
  • Given that ALA and library media and librarians generally are absolutely silent on this issue, there are few other really good sources to address the issue.  Linda Zec is one of the brave few—and notice it took her 8 to 9 years to finally speak up. 
  • Given that ALA itself, Deborah Caldwell-Stone from OIF, went into Linda's very library, her very home town library, and implied Linda was not sexually harassed, no librarian ever is, and no librarian ever will be, 
then exposing how ALA is directly responsible for the sexual harassment of librarians outweighs someone's dislike of people writing about them.

If those harassing me and ignoring the issue instead worked to stop the sexual harassment of librarians by patrons fueled by ALA OIF's pro childporn policy, I would not need to be here saying this in the first place.  It's your failure for not addressing this already, not mine for being so effective in raising it that multiple librarians are attacking me personally and ignoring the issue.  Don't blame me for persistently raising the issue.  Don't blame me for creating a transcript of Linda Zec who finally spoke up after 8 to 9 years of fear proving the direct connection between ALA policy and sexual harassment in libraries.

Linda doesn't like people talking about her.  I get that.  But the interest in stopping sexual harassment of librarians far outweighs her dislike for people writing about her.  Besides, I'm not really writing about her, instead I'm writing about sexually harassed librarians, how they are being harmed, and what can be done to stop that.

Are you?  Andy Woodworth?  Jeff Regensburger?  Nicholas Schiller?  American Libraries?  Library Journal?  #TeamHarpy?  Hello?


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