Recently, it has been pleasing to read that the more traditional issue of removing from library collections, items of a suspect sexual nature, has not been ignored by the guardians of public morality.

One of the municipalities in Florida was placed in grave moral danger by Australian author, Linda Jaivin's first novel, Eat me. After a sometimes fierce, if not ludicrous campaign to remove this offending item from the shelves, common sense prevailed and the choice, to read or not to read, was left to individuals to decide for themselves.

I should point out that Linda Jaivin's books are very popular in our local library. Unfortunately, American libraries are constantly fighting battles to preserve the right of librarians to select, and for readers to decide for themselves that which they choose to read. In a way, it is wonderful to appreciate the power of the written word, and the grave danger to which readers of books may be exposed. Imagine, libraries as arsenals of weapons of mass moral destruction.

Of greatest concern to American librarians is the spectre of financial uncertainty. Grand libraries are being built, but reduced budgets mean empty shelves, reduced hours and fewer staff. So-called sound management principles are being applied, with the result that libraries are no longer service providers, but merely entries on a balance sheet.

Librarians are being urged to provide more online digital services, and to become virtual information centres. The traditional book or magazine is seen as too expensive. One positive feature is that this reduction in services is causing user resentment.

Library users in the U.S. are not only electors, but often turn into litigants. It disturbs many that governments can find billions to fight wars, but are incapable of maintaining basic community services.

It seems strange to Australians that a nation as wealthy as the U.S.A., and one so self-proclaimedly committed to individual freedoms, is capable of placing restrictions on those same freedoms by severe cost cutting.

Occasionally, we receive complaints about particular books. The most vocal are not about graphic sex, but concern children's picture books. Fortunately, good sense prevails, and it is left to readers to make their own choices. A literate society is an informed society, and one more than capable of making its own sound decisions.