Cedar Park Public Library can now purchase R-rated movies for its film collection.
Cedar Park City Council voted unanimously Dec. 6 to amend the Cedar Park Public Library Collection Development Policy to allow the library to purchase videos with an MPAA rating up to R. Prior to the amendment, the library could not purchase movies with ratings above PG-13.
The change comes after a review of the library by library staff found the community desired access to higher-rated movies. A user engagement survey conducted in April and May showed that more than 60 percent of over 400 respondents would be interested in having access to R-rated movies, according to city documents.
A comparison of the Cedar Park Public Library to other libraries in similar cities showed the exclusion of R-rated movies was unique to Cedar Park, according to city documents.
The library will create youth accounts, so children cannot access videos with mature content unless they have parental or guardian approval.
The film collection of the library makes up 5 percent of the library collection, Library Director Julia Mitschke said during a presentation at a Nov. 15 council meeting. Mitschke said the collection includes film adaptations of books as well as award-winning movies. Many recent Oscar award-winning movies, such as “The Shape of Water” and “12 Years a Slave,” are rated R.
Both my husband and I think that this is a bad decision!!
Finally! Very Excited about this, been waiting for years for a better selection of movies. Thank you!