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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 11, 1990                   TAG: 9007110477
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A/8   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: OAK LAWN, ILL.                                LENGTH: Medium

LIBRARY POLICY RESTRICTING ACCESS BY CHILDREN LIFTED

After a loud and often hostile public response Tuesday night by more than 100 residents, the library board voted 4-3 to rescind the limited access policy. Three of the seven trustees were absent when the policy was adopted last month.

The policy would have let parents in this south Chicago suburb obtain cards for children under 14 years old that restricted them to the juvenile section.

Opponents of the policy argued that children would no longer have access to such items as an encyclopedia and dictionary. Backers of the change said parents would gain more control over access to what their children read.

For more than 13 years, library officials said, Oak Lawn has allowed children access to Playboy magazine and all other library materials, excluding music videos, which are available only to patrons 18 and over.

Residents attending the meeting gave the board a standing ovation after the vote, saying the quiet suburb could return to normal after receiving national media attention over the new policy.

"I'm deeply ashamed of our library and totally embarrassed," resident Mary Grana said before the vote. "My friends from all over are saying `Oh, you live in that Nazi village?' "

Library trustee Nancy Czerwiec, author of the limited-access policy, said arguments that it was censorship clouded the issue of parental choice.

"An idea is on trial tonight - the idea of parental choice," Czerwiec said.

"As a parent, I've always had the choice," said Kathleen Miller, a resident for 25 years. "Who are you to give me the right I already have?"