rated movie. But in Philadelphia, all you have to be is 12 to rent the same films from the public library. What makes this even funnier is that the library drew heat last year when it was learned the age limit had been 14. Library president Elliot L. Shelkrot acknowledged that the policy had been changed.
"The change in age is in response to the public," Shelkrot said. The age limit for an adult card was lowered last October after a yearlong study by library staff and a vote by a committee of the board of trustees.
"This was not an arbitrary decision whatsoever," said Helen Miller, the library's director of public services. "We were trying to reach a policy based on how kids use the library - what they said they wanted or needed for school or their own interests." Miller said that library staff members have found that children's use of video has expanded. According to Miller, some children will use the movie version of a novel or play in the way that their parents might have used Cliffs Notes. Other children studying World War II in school may rent the R-rated Saving Private Ryan, she said.
The library did its own survey of major systems that serve populations over a million. Out of 21, including Philadelphia, 15 allowed children who qualified for an adult library card to have access to their entire collections.
In some cities, including Chicago and Phoenix, there was no age limit. In Dallas, children under 14 were required to have a parental signature to get a card, but then had open access.
At the New York Public Library, the staff found the same rules as are in effect now in Philadelphia. Detroit and San Diego, however, were requiring borrowers to be 18 or older to take out videos.
Councilman Frank Rizzo last February, questioned the wisdom of letting 14-year-olds view R-rated movies.
"When we're talking about young people, it's appropriate to review what is being made available," Rizzo said at the time. "Remember, they're getting this through the Free Library system. It's not like they're going to a video store. This is something that we, the government, are making available to them."
Yesterday, at a Council hearing on the library's 2001 funding request, he criticized Shelkrot again for moving further in the wrong direction by opening access to even younger children.
"Do you have anything beyond R-rated?" Rizzo chided. "X-rated? Is that the next step? Do you plan on X-rated videos in the library?"
Shelkrot assured Rizzo that the library had no plans to acquire X-rated films. The library owns about 100,000 videos - instructional films, children's movies and feature films.
Gene sez: "Hell, I got that many tapes sitting in my office right now. And, doubting that the Philadelphia Library either has any Traci Lords films or the Cliff Notes' versions, thereof, we offer the following:
