Part of SD Library Site Disabled

After protests about some links in the teen section of the South Dakota State Library's site (www.sdstatelibrary.com/teencenter) Gov. Mike Rounds decided July 12 to disable access to the whole section of the site, pending a review—which, he later agreed, could be conducted by the state library board.

According to the AP, Rounds said, "As a parent, I would be very disturbed to have my children connecting to any of these web sites." Earlier this year, a school librarian in Huron asked the state library to remove the links to Planned Parenthood's teenwire site, which offers sexuality and relationship information, and the Kaiser Family Foundation site. In April, the state library board said no.

In May, Robert Carlson, bishop of the Sioux Falls Catholic Diocese, wrote to Rounds, saying he found "it extremely troubling that the State of South Dakota would encourage our young women and men to turn to Planned Parenthood for any guidance, whether it be sex education or the intrinsic evil of abortion." He noted that the state library board's only response to the complaints was to put a disclaimer on the web site that it is designed for 15- to 19-year-olds.

Rounds first pressed the library board to remove the Planned Parenthood link, which it did after a 5-1 vote, then said he would assemble a committee to review the links. The South Dakota Library Association asked Rounds to allow the state library board to follow its legal authority and conduct the review—which he did.