Librarians Report Sexual Harassment by Library Patrons Here

Librarians may now report sexual harassment by library patrons via a secure and confidential email to SafeLibraries@pm.me.  Security is provided by ProtonMail.  Confidentiality is provided by me.  I will then take your report, edit it for anonymity, then post it here for others to see.  When enough people see this as the big problem it is, only then will something be done.  It's why American Library Association's [ALA] Office for Intellectual Freedom [OIF] counts fake book "bans."  No one counts real incidents of sexual harassment of librarians caused by viewing of inappropriate material on library computers.

Be clear the purpose of this is to provide space to be heard anonymously on this topic.

I realize I have detractors who will be very vocal precisely to stop people from reporting on this topic.  The less is known the better for those who cause the problem in the first place.  So to email me you'll first have to get over the fake news about me.

Recently a prominent librarian trainer said about me, after I suggested he raise the issue of sexual harassment at the ALA Midwinter meeting #alamw19, that I was "a dumpster fire of a human being" and I have "shitty behavior because [I'm] a bad person."  "You don't care about the issues you raise. You only care giving your otherwise meaningless and pathetic life some kind of meaning."  This is the kind of headwind you'll have to set aside should you decide to contact me with your stories no one else will hear but for me.

Linda Zec

ALA certainly will not hear nor publish your stories.  The former leader of OIF, James LaRue, said it's "dubious" any librarians are ever sexually harassed, and the current acting director of OIF, Deborah Caldwell-Stone, Esq., said librarians have never been and never will be sexually harassed by library patrons viewing inappropriate material since such cases are so hard to prove.  See:

• "ALA Ignores Sexual Harassment of Librarians; Librarian Says #TimesUp"
• "Sexual Harassment of Librarians Never Happens; Child Pornography is Intellectual Freedom"

And that's exactly why ALA doesn't want to count the incidents or publicize them.  But I will.

I'll take your reports and publish them here at "Sexual Harassment of Librarians" for all to see, all while maintaining your security and confidentiality.  Publishing these stories will effect positive change.  On the other hand, ALA says, almost literally, "nothing to see here, move along."

"If you don't like it leave."

The same man who attacked me as indicated above also mocked my efforts to stop sexual harassment.  He said, "there are dozens of people working on those issues."  We all know that is false because the problem never ends.  Yes, a few raise the issue of sexual harassment of librarians by other librarians or in other contexts having nothing to do with patrons viewing unfiltered computers, but I am the only one who addresses the source: OIF pressuring libraries to provide unfiltered access.  The problem never stops precisely because no one talks about it and it's a job ender if you do.  Example:

• "Birmingham Needs Another MLK Moment; No Justice for Sexually Harassed Librarians"

Several librarians have been told if they don't like working in a sexually hostile environment caused by unfiltered computers made possible by OIF policy guidance, then don't let the door hit them on the behind on the way out.  My first ever post on this publication four years ago to this month was about exactly one of those situations.  See and hear in her own words:

• "Library Insider Linda Zec Gives Scoop on Porn in Libraries"

That library employee took eight years to get over her fear of her library director who followed OIF advice.  I'm hoping my secure/confidential platform will eliminate the fear completely.  (And it's my reporting solid evidence like that video that makes me so hated by those in OIF—and loved by librarians who support me silently.)

My coauthor Kevin DuJan and I are working on a research project documenting sexual harassment of librarians and what can be done to correct this problem.  Mr. DuJan is a gay researcher and author who studied the ALA's abuses and wrote about it in "SHUT UP!: The Bizarre War that One Public Library Waged Against the First Amendment," after he was attacked by the library for being a "fag" and so on because he exposed crime at a public library, which led to Linda Zec finally coming forward after eight years to describe her sexual harassment ordeal and how her management following OIF guidance treated her.

Librarians even attack other librarians (besides myself) who dare try to spread the word about the harm being done.  See:

• "Librarian Versus Librarian; Sexual Harassment Wins"

So set aside the naysayers and I'll anonymously publish here what you send me at SafeLibraries@pm.me.  It may even be used in our book.  Times up should mean times up, not let it slide because we're afraid of ALA OIF who tells us our patrons should be allowed unfiltered Internet access and working in a sexually hostile environment is just part of the job.

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URL of this page:

librarians.cc/2019/01/librarians-report-sexual-harassment.html

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@SexHarassed

ALA Ignores Sexual Harassment of Librarians; Librarian Says #TimesUp

Another librarian is exposing the sexual harassment of librarians, only she adds that library management and especially the American Library Association could not care less:

• "#TimesUp on Harassing Your Public Librarian; Femme Librarians Work at the Front Lines of Workplace Sexual Harassment Every Single Day," by Katie MacBride, Shondaland, 31 January 2018.

Read it all, it's well written, but here are some sad quotes:

• "Because the truth is, every femme/female public librarian has dozens of stories just like this one; uncomfortable, but harmless interactions of harassment."
• "Librarians fiendishly guard patrons' right to do everything that makes sexual harassment so prevalent in public libraries — right up to the point where it becomes harassment."
• "The American Library Association doesn't provide any guidelines or resources for dealing with sexual harassment, either from patrons or colleagues." (hyperlink omitted)
• "Management also has to back up those policies by taking action when necessary. This does not always happen. I discovered this firsthand when I went to report a library patron's escalating harassment to my boss."
• "In my experience, and the experience of many other librarians I know, management is often reluctant to address the problem of sexual harassment — especially if it's verbal and not physical — for fear of generating any negative attitudes about the library."
• "We whisper, we warn. We stop the patron who's intent on chasing the librarian into the staff room. If we happen to see it. If the library is fully staffed. If he can be stopped."
• "And so it's time for the American Library Association to recognize and address the reality of sexual harassment in libraries."
• "It's time for library management and the city and county governments they're affiliated with to unequivocally stand behind librarians' right to serve the public free from physical or verbal sexual harassment."
• "Our #TimesUp moment is long overdue."

I have wanted to write this piece for SO LONG and I'm thrilled to contribute to @byshondaland. https://t.co/SE63C9UJNw #TimesUp #libraries #librarians #Harassment

— Katie MacBride (@msmacb) January 31, 2018

The American Library Association obviously does nothing to solve the problem, as this librarian confirms and as I have been reporting.  Worse, James LaRue, the leader of its "Office for Intellectual Freedom" that facilitates Internet pornography in libraries despite the law, says any claims librarians are harassed by patrons as a result of viewing porn are, get this, "dubious":

My correspondent ... wrote that "harassment is caused by people having viewed the unfiltered Internet while in the library." But that's speculation, not fact. It's dubious, too. People read mysteries in libraries and don't feel compelled to commit murders. People are responsible for unwanted or criminal action, not the internet. And not library policy.

ALA leadership claims the problem doesn't exist to protect its own porn-facilitation policy guidelines.  And ALA has been denying the problem for years: "Hostile work environment is a very fact-based lawsuit.  ....  And there've only been three of them over time, over the last twenty years of Internet access in libraries."

ALA and its acolytes hate that I report on ALA's involvement in the sexual harassment of librarians.  Already, before this is even published, I have been attacked for daring to help by offering librarians a platform to speak.  Cutting off any medium for librarians to speak out about harassment serves ALA's goals well, keeps harassed librarians silent:

So now we know why ALA does nothing to help sexually harassed librarians.  It's like all those people ignoring or protecting Harvey Weinstein all those years.  It won't stop until librarians stop ignoring or protecting ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom.  They at ALA OIF, they are the "dubious" ones.  They cause this:

A major reason why I left my last #library job is because I was being harassed and no one cared. Thank you for this. https://t.co/rmaC3oE6hW

— Amanda (@iamandahope) February 1, 2018

NOTE ADDED 8 FEBRUARY 2018:

Just found more evidence of yet another librarian revealing the American Library Association itself is the problem (source of comment by Dena Marger): 

"It is legally up to our employers to prevent a hostile work environment, even if the source of harassment comes from a patron... Patrons who view porn in the workplace are still a point of contention with the ALA, which staunchly defends a patron’s right to unfiltered internet access in the library. Lawsuits from librarians claim that forced and consistent exposure to pornography in the workplace creates a hostile environment." Yes, I've been saying this for as long as I've been a librarian, and having to deal with patrons and porn in the workplace. Glad others feel able to actually say this out loud as well. In a profession that prides itself on protecting everyone's "free speech," some people's speech can be harder to hear.

And here's yet another:

Patrons who view porn in the workplace are still a point of contention with the ALA, which staunchly defends a patron’s right to unfiltered internet access in the library. Lawsuits from librarians claim that forced and consistent exposure to pornography in the workplace creates a hostile environment.

Source: "Sexual Harassment in the Library: When Patrons are the Perpetrators," by Melissa DeWitt, Hack School Library, 11 September 2017, hyperlinks in original except one I updated that was 404.


NOTE ADDED 8 JAN 2020:

Updating a dead link to an archived version.  I also note the @iamandahope tweet quoting in full appears to have been deleted.