Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, July 5, 1990                   TAG: 9007050123
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: OAK LAWN, ILL.                                LENGTH: Medium

LIBRARY OFFERS `PG-13' CARD TO RESTRICT CHILDREN'S READING

Beginning in September, parents of children under age 14 will have the option of a library card that would restrict their young to the children's room of the library.

Time magazine - in the periodical area - would be off limits. Ray Bradbury's book, "Fahrenheit 451" - in adult fiction - would be out of reach. So would "Who's Who" - upstairs in the library's reference section.

Trustees say in an age in which children are bombarded with violent and illicit images, the card will give parents the option of confining their children to appropriate reading material.

Parents who aren't interested in the special card may still get cards for their children that will give them free rein of the library.

"I think the issue here is parental rights," said Dave Gallagher, a seven-year trustee of the library who voted in favor of the plan at the board's June meeting.

"As far as I'm concerned, the whole policy puts in into the hands of the parent and takes it away from the library, a government body," said Gallagher. "The parent has a choice - and that's the key word here, choice."

Under the plan, kids wishing to leave the library's children's area would be required to show a staff member their card. If they have the special juvenile card, they will not be allowed to leave the room.

The proposal, which passed 3-1 with three members absent, has met with the approval of some parents.

"I wouldn't get the cards for my kids, but I wouldn't criticize the board for issuing them," Grace Kreten said last week as she browsed through the children's section with her children, 10-year-old Kelly and 6-year-old Peter.

Others questioned the wisdom of the policy.

"The library should be a place where everything is available," said Donna Kordas, who regularly brings her four children, ages 2 to 15, to the only library in this suburb.

Oak Lawn librarians declined to discuss the new policy.

Oak Lawn is not unique in instituting such a card - nearby Arlington Heights has a similar system. Officials of the American Library Association said they feared the cards were a bad precedent.

The association does not keep statistics on how many of the nation's 103,000 libraries have such systems, although the trend has been away from them, said Judith Krug, director of the association's Office for Intellectual Freedom.