lubbock wants to ban porn, in libraries Options

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Lubbock library to review policy on Internet porn
BY JAMES GALLAGHER
AVALANCHE-JOURNAL

Jamar High visits the Mahon Library about three times a week to access the Internet.

The 22-year-old uses library computers to pay his bills and access his myspace.com page.

"It's convenient," he said. "It's real easy to grab a computer and just log on."

High said he's never used the computers to access sexually explicit material nor has he seen anyone doing it.

But it does happen.

People have accessed Internet pornography in Lubbock libraries, and the City Council wants it to stop. Now the city's Libraries Board and the City Council are in the process of reviewing the library system's policies regarding Internet access to ensure that people aren't accessing sexually explicit material.

"I want to learn more about what our policy is and why we have the policy we do," said Mayor Pro Tem Jim Gilbreath. "Why we have chosen not to filter anything at this time?"

Gilbreath said his daughter was recently using a public library computer and noticed the gentleman next to her was looking at a sexually explicit Web site.

According to the Lubbock Public Library Internet Safety Policy, Internet filters are not used because the library system does not want to "make any attempt to censor access to the Internet."

"We worked with our attorney in the legal department to determine the policy so people know up front that it is unfiltered," said Jane Clausen, Library Services director.

Instead of filters, Lubbock libraries require parental approval if children under the age of 17 want to use the Internet.

Adults are legally allowed to view sexually explicit material - even in libraries - if they choose. Obscenity and child pornography are not legally viewable anywhere.

Aida Rios signed a parental waiver form to allow her 16-year-old son to use library computers. She said she is concerned about what he can access, but she'll supervise it.

"I'll probably be here because I have to drive him," she said.

The city's Internet policy was last updated in August 2002, three months after a federal district court in Pennsylvania struck down the federal Children's Internet Protection Act, which required libraries accepting federal funding for computers and Internet access to install Internet filters.

The district court said the filter requirement violated the First Amendment.

The U.S. Supreme Court overturned that decision in 2003. The court ruled that requiring the filters did not violate the First Amendment, so long as the filters are turned off at the request of an adult library patron.

The federal government now requires libraries accepting funding for public computers and Internet access to install filters.

Clausen said Lubbock libraries do not use their federal funds to pay for public computers or Internet access and are therefore not required by the federal government to install Internet filters.

Still, Gilbreath wants the library board to consider it.

"The City Council is responsible for administering community standards," he said. "Given where we are with sexually oriented businesses and all, to me, using public funds to supply access to pornographic Web sites is not a good use of public funds."

City Attorney Anita Burgess said her staff is looking at the policy and will help the Libraries Board refreshen it, if needed.

Steve Lindell, who coordinates the Bidwell Technology Center at the Mahon Library, said he has had to deal with patrons accessing Internet pornography a couple of times in his three years there.

"It's not as prevalent as people think," he said.

More than 105,000 library patrons used public access computers in the city's four libraries during the fiscal year 2004-05.

Lindell said in the few instances when someone accessed sexually explicit material, he asked them to change to a different Web site or offered to move them to another computer, away from other patrons.

The American Library Association, which leads the charge against the Children's Internet Protection Act, also said that few people complain about seeing others accessing sexually explicit material in libraries.

Deborah Caldwell-Stone, deputy director for the office for intellectual freedom at the American Library Association, said libraries respect their patrons' privacy and have no way of tracking how frequently library computers are used to access sexually explicit material. Rather, the organization relies on anecdotal evidence from participating libraries.

"There are libraries that tell us there's absolutely no problem at all, and there's other libraries that had complaints, and they adopt policies to address the viewing problems," she said.

Caldwell-Stone said the association would prefer individual communities establish their own policies regarding the Internet and filters instead of Congress mandating it. The association also questions the effectiveness of filters.

"The thing about filters is, filters are promoted as a silver bullet, and they really aren't," she said. "They are costly. They require staff members to maintain. And they are inaccurate."

Caldwell-Stone said the filters often block legal sites, such as health sites, while failing to block all pornographic sites.

Two studies conducted by the National Research Council and by the Kaiser Family Foundation in 2002 concluded that filters are a good tool for limiting access, but they are not perfect.

The Kaiser study found that filters work best when set at the lowest level. At more restrictive levels, filters "block access to a substantial amount of health information, with only a minimal increase in blocked pornographic content."

Caldwell-Stone said many libraries across the nation have forgone federal funding rather than complying with the Children's Internet Protection Act. She said the libraries find the discounts and funding they receive often aren't enough to offset the cost of buying Internet filters and paying someone to monitor them.

"It's interesting to watch, but libraries have just given up," she said. "It's so complex to comply with CIPA, they've just given up the money."

To comment on this story:

james.gallagher@lubbockonline.com 766-8753

brian.williams@lubbockonline.com 766-8717