A Fresh Look at the Library Bill of Rights - Part X
Exploring the Issues of Public Access to the Internet in Libraries and Intellectual Freedom
Taken from the Summer 1999
NCompass
In this latest installment of the NCompass series examining applications of intellectual freedom and the Library Bill of Rights, we explore the issue of customer use of the Internet in libraries.
Last fall, Chris Hansen, Senior Staff Attorney at the National American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) office and lead counsel on the landmark Internet censorship case, ACLU v. Reno, spoke to an audience at the Nebraska Library Commission about Internet censorship issues facing public libraries. Hansen stated that the focus and impact of the ACLU v. Reno case was important because it established the Internet as a format (similar to casual conversation, books and magazines) and sought the same protection under the law as these types of media. The proponents of the Internet restrictions sought to establish the Internet as a form of broadcast media and subject to the laws governing that format. The Supreme Court decision declared the Internet in the same category as a book and subject to the laws governing books. Hansen suggested that librarians use this concept as a standard, "Whatever guidelines govern the use of a book in the library would guide the use of the Internet."
Several court cases targeted public library Internet policies. In October 1998, a California superior court judge dismissed a lawsuit attempting to force the Livermore Public Library to prevent children from accessing sexual material on the Internet. (American Libraries, December 1998, p. 17). In November 1998, the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia concluded that the Loudoun County Library was under no obligation to provide Internet access to its patrons; but since it chose to do so, it is restricted by the First Amendment in the limitations it is allowed to place on patron access. The judge declared that the Loudoun County Library Internet policy offended the guarantee of free speech in the First Amendment and was unconstitutional. The library was using X-Stop to filter web sites, see http://www.techlawjournal.com/courts/loudon/81123op.htm.
ACLU v. Reno 2, challenges the Child Online Protection Act (COPA) signed into law by the 105th Congress, see [obsolete link removed]http://thomas.loc.gov/. The COPA requires persons who are engaged in the business of distributing, by means of the World Wide Web, material that is harmful to minors to restrict access to such material by minors. Judge Lowell A. Reed, Jr. said that the federal Internet censorship law violates the First Amendments rights of adults and placed a temporary restraining order on its enforcement.
In June 1998, the ACLU issued a report, Censorship in a Box: Why Blocking Software is wrong for Public Libraries, calling blocking software clumsy and ineffective, see [obsolete link removed] http://www.aclu.org/issues/cyber/box.html. In the report, the ACLU offers alternatives to blocking software: acceptable use policies, time limits on use of the Internet, conditional Internet access for minors on completion of an Internet use seminar, publicity and links to recommended sites, and use of privacy screens.
The American Library Association (ALA) policy on the use of Internet filters is set forth in the "Resolution on the Use of Filtering Software in Libraries," see
[obsolete link removed] http://www.ala.org/alaorg/oif/filt_res.html. At its annual spring meeting, the Intellectual Freedom Committee discussed the Resolution at length. The committee unanimously concluded that no alteration should be made to that official policy document, which affirms that use of filtering software to block access to constitutionally protected speech violates the Library Bill of Rights. Ann Symons, ALA President (see https://www.ala.org/) and proponent of Intellectual Freedom, said, "We do not help children when we simply wall them off from information and ideas that are controversial or disturbing. If they are to succeed in the Information Age, they must learn to be discerning users of information. By teaching children how to use this valuable tool, helping them become critical thinkers, and guiding them to high-quality resources, that's what we librarians do best." (American Libraries, January 1999, p. 44.)
Recent legislative action on the use of filtering in libraries reminds librarians that this hot topic needs ongoing monitoring. In June, the Senate Commerce Committee approved S. 97, the Children's Online Protection Act. According to the approved bill, in order to receive E-rate discounts, libraries with one Internet access terminal would have to certify that the library is "enforcing a policy to ensure that minors do not use the computer for Internet access to material that is obscene and child pornography." ALA sent a letter to all Senate Commerce Committee members stating concerns that "S. 97 not only writes into federal law a single and highly flawed technological approach to protecting children online, it forces libraries to broadly employ that technology in a manner that threatens the rights of all library users to access constitutionally protected material." The most up-to-date information on this and other Washington activities affecting libraries can be found at
[obsolete link removed] http://www.ala.org/washoff/alawon/.
The Nebraska Statutes address the issue of distributing or lending obscene
materials in Chapter 28, "Crimes and Punishments". Any person who violates
this section shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. Libraries and
educational institutions are exempt from this provision as stated in Chapter
28, Section 815.
The Nebraska Library Commission affirms its role in promoting free and open access to information in the public libraries of Nebraska with a statement called
Access to Electronic Information, Services, and Networks: A Nebraska Library Commission Interpretation March 1997.
For more information about Intellectual Freedom, refer to the American Library Office of Intellectual Freedom at http://www.ala.org/oif.html.
[obsolete link removed]
Ellen VanWaart
For more information see the Library Commission home page, search on freedom. Full text of the Nebraska Intellectual Freedom Handbook
[obsolete link removed] is also available.