After 4-3 Vote, WA PL Board To Filter All Net Access

-- Library Journal, 02/21/2006

The board of the Fort Vancouver Regional Library District, WA, has voted 4-3 to filter all library computer access for pornography, joining the Phoenix PL and perhaps others in apparent violation of the Supreme Court's interpretation of Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA), which would require libraries to disable the filters for adults on request. (No challenge has yet been filed, however.) Access to pornography has been a contentious issue for the library, and opposition to the library's CIPA-compliant Internet policy has been blamed for the failure, by narrow margins of library bond measures in the past two years.

While no implementation decision was announced, a library press release noted that the board asked staff to both provide "reasonable privacy and confidentiality [of computer screens] while allowing staff to monitor for appropriate access." If the filter doesn't block pornography or if users try to bypass the filter, staff will be authorized to enforce the policy, which presumably means use of the "tap on the shoulder" technique. The new policy will be implemented "in a couple of months" after a system reconfiguration. The library said that, of about 450 messages from citizens, about two-thirds favored more stringent filtering, even though critics of the change pointed out there were few problems with the current policy. Library director Bruce Ziegman said library leaders "hope to refocus our energies on the 2006 strategic plan priorities," including new facilities.