Technically, adult pornography is protected speech. However, child pornography is not. Regardless, you may want to put filters on your computers if you want to routinely block all forms of pornography, hate speech, etc. This keeps your staff from being policewomen and confronting the public, who will not take kindly to intrusion. I doubt your staff wants to add this to their daily responsibilities.
Bottom line: If you want to have a policy, you need to discuss ways to enforce it fairly and equitably. You also may want to define what pornography is-- the limits. Taken to the extreme, some see a picture of a breast exam as pornographic. Nude modeling may be seen as some as pornographic. Good luck. Dale ________________________________ From: [email protected] [[email protected]] On Behalf Of Carolyn Manning [[email protected]] Sent: Friday, May 15, 2009 8:18 AM To: CTLS list Subject: [ctls-l] Internet policies Hi Folks, We have had a rash of patrons viewing pornography. Our current policy doesn't specifically cover pornography. Instead, it talks about "objectionable behavior". What do other libraries have in the way of policies on viewing pornography? We would like to create a formal policy on just this issue. Thanks for any input you can give me! Carolyn T. Manning Library Director Wimberley Village Library [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
