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

DATE: SUNDAY, November 20, 1994                   TAG: 9411210072
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LEESBURG                                 LENGTH: Medium

LIBRARY RECORDS TO BE OPENED

Under the new policy, which takes effect Jan. 1, parents will be able to see only the titles of books that their children currently have checked out. After a book has been returned, the system does not keep a record of who borrowed it.

The Library Board had voted in September to open children's records to their parents but waited until this week to decide what ages would be affected.

Board members who voted for the measures said parents have a right to know what their children are reading and deserve full cooperation from librarians.

``Philosophically, we just don't think that it's the business of government to be driving a wedge between the parent and the child,'' said Loudoun Library Board Chairman Dennis Pierce, a leader of a conservative faction that recently gained a majority on the panel.

In Fairfax County, officials recently decided to open the records of children 12 and younger to their parents.

Civil libertarians and library advocates said the Fairfax and Loudoun policies will breach the historic trust between libraries and readers and discourage juvenile patrons from borrowing certain books. Loudoun's age limit of 17 may be unprecedented, librarians said.

Anne Penway, assistant director of the American Library Association's intellectual freedom office, said she had never heard of such a policy applying to teen-agers.

``I think it sends exactly the wrong message to the young library users of Loudoun County: `When it comes to reading and gathering information, we're keeping an eye on you,''' Penway said.