Keith BieryGolick

kbierygolick@enquirer.com

“We haven’t found a ... library system out there that does not collect them,” director says.

Library officials want to target award-winning and acclaimed films.

R-rated comedies might still be overlooked.

Policy change would allow for mature-rated television shows, but not explicit-language CDs.

CLERMONT CO. – Clermont County was the last county in Ohio to get a public library system, according to Joe Braun, president of the Clermont County Library Board of Trustees.

With its 60th anniversary coming up next year, library officials appear ready to end another drought.

“We currently do not purchase and do not circulate rated-R movies,” Braun said.

Braun calls Clermont a “very conservative” county, but other nearby counties such as Brown County and Adams County offer R-rated movies.

“They are probably more conservative ... than we are — or at least on par with us,” said Chris Wick, director of the Clermont County Public Library.

“We haven’t found a local library system out there that does not collect (R-rated movies).”

Kathy Kirkman, a Bethel resident, said she orders R-rated movies through Clermont’s inter-library loan system.

But that takes longer and isn’t convenient, she said.

Cherri McCall, a Williamsburg resident with two teenage children and a 20-year-old, said she “wouldn’t have an issue” with R-rated movies as long as proper restrictions were put in place.

“There’s a lot of kids in town,” McCall said at the Bethel branch, which is within walking distance of the Bethel-Tate Middle School and Bick Primary School.

Even then, Kirkman said children are exposed to much worse on a daily basis.

“A lot of the good movies are rated R for language. Kids see that every day on TV,” she said.

The demand for R-rated films in Clermont has been there since at least 2005 when officials first studied the possibility, Wick said.

“It comes up on a daily basis probably at every branch,” she said.

The policy change to allow R-rated movies also would extend to mature-rated television shows, but not music, Wick said.

“We don’t purchase any explicit-language CDs at this time,” she said.

The library currently offers a juvenile card to those under 18 years old and an adult library card to those who are 18 years old and older.

“Probably what we would do is offer access just to adult card owners,” Wick said.

“There’s a possibility we could change the application process so parents could give permission to (access R-rated materials from a) juvenile card, but that’s all kind of up in the air right now.”

Another item up in the air is how the library would determine what R-rated movies to buy.

“The intention would be to select critically-acclaimed, award-winning films,” Wick said.

In other words, something like this year’s “Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa” probably wouldn’t be picked but the Oscar-winning “12 Years a Slave” might.

“That’s the hard part of it, how do you define high quality and acclaimed? It’s all part of the discussion,” Wick said.

The policy change is expected to be on the agenda at the next trustee meeting, scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday, April 14 at the Union Township branch, 4450 Glen Este-Withamsville Road.

What’s next:R-rated films are expected to be on the agenda at the next Library Board of Trustees meeting scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday, April 14, at the Union Township branch, 4450 Glen Este-Withamsville Road.