Login  |  Register          Free Newsletter Subscription
Subscribe to LJ Magazine
Email
Print
Reprint
Learn RSS

After Teens Break in to View Internet Porn, Nebraska Library Locks Down Net

Jennifer Pinkowski -- Library Journal, 7/12/2007

In mid-May, two Yutan, NE, male teens repeatedly broke into their town library after hours in order to access online pornography. City leaders came up with a novel solution. They didn’t put a lockdown on the youths, age 13 and 15, or even on the doors. Instead, they put a lockdown on Internet access on computers until the library installed software filters that block access to sites with sexual content or nudity. The Yutan Library's board was not pleased, according to local news reports. It cited its five-year-old Internet policy, which holds that the library would not use filtering software because of free speech concerns: “Use of information via the Internet in Yutan Public Library is the responsibility of the user,” it states. 

But the city council of the town, which has just over 1200 residents, saw things differently, immediately cutting off online access to the four public terminals with little input from the library board. Throughout most of June, not even librarians could go online. On June 19, the City Council agreed to reinstate Internet access for librarians immediately and for patrons within a week, as soon as software filters could be installed, as reported in the Bellevue Leader. As of press time, it wasn’t clear whether these filters had been put in place. Library director Verna Milenkovich did not respond to phone calls or emails from LJ requesting comment. On his Travelin' Librarian blog, Michael Sauers, who works for the Nebraska Library Commission, suggested that the actual problem had not been addressed.

Email
Print
Reprint
Learn RSS

Talkback

We would love your feedback!

Post a comment

» VIEW ALL TALKBACK THREADS

Sponsored Links



 
Advertisement
Sponsored Links

More Content

  • Blogs
  • Podcasts
  • Photos

Blogs

  • Rebecca Miller
    LJ Insider

    April, 10 2008
    Radical Is More than a State of Mind
    I made myself late for class at Pratt last night when I ducked in to hear Jenna Freedman, Barnard li...
    More
  • Norman Oder
    LJ Insider

    March, 14 2008
    Senator Feingold Gets ALA's Madison Award
    The American Library Association (ALA) has presented U.S. Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) with the...
    More
  • » VIEW ALL BLOGS RSS

Photos

Advertisements





LJ NEWSLETTERS

Click on a title below to learn more.

LJXPRESS
LJ ACADEMIC NEWSWIRE
LJ REVIEW ALERT
CRÍTICAS
Library DVD Guide
©2008 Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Use of this Web site is subject to its Terms of Use | Privacy Policy
Please visit these other Reed Business sites