Brenda Biesterfeld

Brenda Biesterfeld was a librarian at the Lindsay, California branch of the Tulare County public library, California, USA, who was fired on March 6, 2008 after reporting to police a visitor who she twice observed watching child pornography on a library computer. Her supervisor warned her not to call police, but she still reported the case resulting in the visitor being arrested and the library computer seized. [http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=60056 "Librarian fired for reporting child pornography"] , March 20, 2008 ]

Dispute over reasoning of her firing

The official statement from the Tulare County did confirm that among the reasons of firing was her call to police, but a number of other infractions were listed as well. [ [http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=news/local&id=6069312 "13 Reasons for firing Brenda Biesterfeld"] ] At the same time, Biesterfeld's evaluation carried out in January stated that her work was "reasonable and consistent with normal expectations of proficiency." [ [http://thefullquiverhomeschoolhouse.wordpress.com/2008/03/28/a-follow-up-brenda-biesterfeld/ A Follow-Up: Brenda Biesterfeld] , March 28, 2008] The legal firm working on behalf of Biesterfeld established that her records were modified postfactum and in fact she was expecting promotion before the incident. [ [http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=60641 "Records changed after librarian reported porn"] , April 03, 2008]

Impact of incident

The case attracted nationwide attention and the outrage of the locals. [http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-library26mar26%2C1%2C3211325.story "Firing of library worker causes uproar"] , "Los Angeles Times", March 26, 2008] The subsequent discussion, among other issues, involved the position of the American Library Association which denied librarians' responsibility to restrict viewing legally obscene information citing "intellectual freedom". Randy Thomasson, chief of the Campaign for Children and Families (CCF), stated that the case has significant national implications. [ [http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=62867 "Ropes, candy found in porn suspect's car"] , April 28, 2008]

The Family Friendly Libraries association awarded Biesterfeld with its Gold Star Award for her actions. It was presented to her by the councilwoman of the city of Lindsay. [http://www.lisnews.org/node/29558 "Family Friendly Libraries Gives Award"] , 03/20/2008]

Biesterfeld's case and its implications were covered at the March 27, 2008 episode of "The O'Reilly Factor". [imdb-title|210401| "The O'Reilly Factor", March 27, 2008 episode]

Charges

Donny Lynn Chrisler, the patron who Biesterfeld had reported, has been charged with seven counts of possessing child pornography, with a maximum of seven years in prison. A police search of his home "revealed hundreds of printed and thousands of stored images of young boys in sexual poses". [http://www.theexetersun.com/articles/2008/03/26/news/news01.txt]

References

External links

* [http://www.lc.org/index.cfm?PID=14100&PRID=673 Library Employee Fired For Reporting Patron’s Use Of Child Pornography] , Liberty Counsel