As an ex-School librarian I also found this extremely frustrating. 

I would suggest that perhaps writing to the examination Boards, or
asking CILIP maybe to do so might bring home the ridiculousness of the
situation. You could point out the inconsistency and the relevant fine
for anyone supplying it to students. It puts librarians and retailers in
an untenable position.

 

Angela Otterwell
Librarian
Mourant du Feu & Jeune


-----Original Message-----
From: A general Library and Information Science list for news and
discussion. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of David McMenemy
Sent: 17 May 2007 13:28
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Lending 18 certificate material


Hi Sarah,

My understanding of this based on the FACT website is that the law is
very clear re videos/DVDs and that it is an offence to knowingly supply
a video to someone under the legal viewing age and a fine of up to 20k
can be given if it is broken.  

I don't think parental permission comes into it either. 

Check out:

http://www.fact-uk.org.uk/site/criminal_justice/vidact.htm

Cheers
David

-----Original Message-----
From: A general Library and Information Science list for news and
discussion. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Sarah Robinson
Sent: 17 May 2007 11:56
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Lending 18 certificate material

Apologies for cross-posting

Dear all, 

Can I check with any of you who have under 18s who need to watch 18
certificate material what you do. It is our present policy to not allow
them to borrow the item. 

I want to be sure that we are correct in saying that we can't legally
lend this material to these students (regardless of the fact that they
might have a note signed by a parent to say that they can).

Recently we have had a number of instances where under 18 students who
are on our media or A-level courses need to watch this material because
it is part of the course, we say no we can't lend it to them and then
they are disappointed that they can't take the item out. I would also
like to clarify the issue of 'watching the film' - if we set the student
up in the library to 'watch the film' are we breaking the law?

(Can anyone tell me why the examining boards take it into their heads to
set 18 certificate films for an A-level course in the first place, when
the majority of students will be under this age, it seems quite potty to
me).

Any help would be appreciated, 

Sarah Robinson
Assistant Librarian
Suffolk College Library
Rope Walk
Ipswich
IP4 1LT



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