By Jacob Lowell
Protecting children from Internet pornography at public libraries has long been a source of heated debate, and solutions to the problem range from Internet filters to monitoring computer users.
Chip Ward, the assistant director of the Salt Lake City Public Library system, said they solved the problem using employees who monitor Internet usage.
Patrons who violate the library pornography policy are asked to leave, and second-time offenders will have their library card revoked, Ward said.
The library doesn''t use filters because they block information about things like sperm whales because of the keyword 'sperm,' keeping users from doing possible research for school projects, Ward said.
Despite criticism of filters, the Provo City Library uses them, and director Gene Nelson said they are effective.
He said The Provo City Library Board unanimously voted a few years ago to install filters on all computers with Internet access.
Rather than block information based on key words, the Provo City Library filters block pornographic Web sites.
'A site will be blocked if it falls underneath the parameters of what might be considered pornography. So, a site on breast cancer will not necessarily be blocked just because it is dealing with breast cancer.'
Nelson responded to accusations of filters being ineffective at blocking pornographic material.
'The idea of tapping somebody on the shoulder and saying, ''Hey, you''re in an inappropriate site,'' I don''t think is highly effective either,' he said.
Congress passed the Children''s Internet Protection Act last year in an attempt to protect children from Internet pornography. The law required schools and any library that receives federal grants to install Internet filters by July 1, 2002.
A Philadelphia appellate court ruled May 31, 2002 that the law is unconstitutional letting public libraries off the hook. The deadline for filters still applies to schools however.
The American Library Association supported the court''s decision. Larra Clark, a spokeswoman for the American Library Association said, 'I think ultimately libraries are very much about offering people the ability to choose the materials they want and need.'
Clark said mandating filters on library computers limits people''s freedom of access to information.
'When you make it mandated, however, then you take away that choice and you''re also putting a financial burden on the library to pay for these filters.'
Clark said she believes most people are not going to libraries to look at pornography.
'Most people are using the library in a responsible way and they''re not looking for inappropriate material.'