Statement of Penny Lancaster to the
Spokane County Library Board
March 19, 1998
Dear Mr. Wirt and Board of Directors:
Using filtering software at the proxy server level on all computers is a matter of management, to insure that the purpose and
mission of the library is upheld - namely, to provide educational and informational materials, not pornography.
Don't put librarians and patrons into the path of sexual harassment or assault. Anyone who is bold enough to use public
computers to access erotic material is a danger to librarians, children, and other patrons. The library has an obligation to
employees and patrons to provide a safe environment. Librarians should not have to police and confront patrons who choose
to operate in prurient websites outside of recommended library policy guidelines. Policing should be automatic and
technological, not arbitrary and subjective. Do we want a place for parental worry and fear or a safe browsing environment?
Pornographic sites can be an attractive nuisance to a minor, much like a backyard swimming pool without a fence. Unfettered
access to the Internet can draw children to view harmful material. But keep in mind that Internet users do not have to go
looking for inappropriate sites, the pornography industry is pushing their wares on kid-friendly sites too.
Law suits should not be your first concern. The primary consideration for the Board should be to determine how to protect
children and provide a safe environment for adults as well. Other cities are filtering and not facing law suits. ACLU backed
down from Mrs. Fields in Orlando, Fl. Wouldn't it be better to defend a policy which upholds content selection that supports
your mission statement, rather than defend yourself against a family whose child has been traumatized by material that they
accessed at the library, or who was victimized by a man who was stimulated by viewing illegal erotic material on the Library
Internet? The National Legal Defense Fund and The American Center for Law and Justice have announced that they will
defend any library that comes under attack because of their good faith effort to restrict access to on-line pornography.
The Library does not need to worry about loosing filtering control to a software company. These companies will let you know
which sites were being blocked each day and you can adjust - up or down - the type of blocks. Safe Libraries are reporting
very few inappropriate blocks. You should appoint an Internet Advisory Committee to implement and monitor the software.
Parents may do everything they can to train their children to resist temptation but every institution in society recognizes their
joint responsibility to support families by setting limits and guidlines and enforcing them when parents are not around. That is
why we have age limits for smoking, drinking, driving, and even viewing certain movies. Ted Bundy came from a loving, all
American home, but what he became addicted to was nothing compared to what kids can access on-line in our public
libraries today.
Free Internet access in public libraries is a privilege, not a right. Tax payers are not obligated to supply free cyberporn access,
or any other cyber access, to their fellow citizens. Any citizen disappointed by the extent of filtering in their library system is
entirely free to buy their own equipment for home use and legally surf away according to their own tastes. A library system's
decision to filter or block is a decision about responsible SELECTION, not CENSORSHIP.
Recommendations:
1. Adopt a policy which restricts access to illegal obscenity on adult computers with code over-ride capability.
2. Restrict minors (17 and under) to computers which filter for all indecent materials, as defined by state statutes.
3. Create an Internet Advisory Committee which includes librarians, industry, parents, community, and administration to deal
with refining and implementing a software program, such as X-Stop or BESS, and set guidlines for stoplists.
4. Require parental permission for a minor's access to the Internet. There should always be informed consent for a minor to
use Government property, especially the Internet which could have serious repercussions to a child's psychological
development if they access hardcore pornography.