Filtering and the Tompkins County Public Library - August 2003

The Ithaca Journal
August 2003
by Martin J. Shapiro

Recently, the United States Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA). This act would require filtering Internet access content in public libraries. While compliance with the act is not mandatory, failure to do so would result in the loss of federal funds to support Internet access and to purchase new computers.

Presently, the Tompkins County Public Library receives about $7,000 annually in Federal funding to support Internet access. We have also applied for federal funds for the purchase of laptop computers for a lab in the library, although there is no assurance of receiving that grant.

The Board of Trustees has studied the issue of whether or not to comply with CIPA and filter all Internet access content on the library's computers for over a year. We have considered the capabilities of the software available to accomplish such filtering as required by CIPA, the cost of such software, the effect of such filtering, and whether there is a need for such filtering in your library. We have also very carefully considered the effect of the loss of the federal funds we now receive if we do not filter in accordance with CIPA.

First of all, let me be very clear that the library does not approve, condone, or permit Internet access to pornographic websites on our computers, period!

In the rare instance that a patron is found to be accessing such a website in the library, he or she is told to desist immediately and may be denied further computer usage. Further, youth patrons are required to have parental or guardian written consent to use the computers at all. It is our experience that such access to un-permitted websites occurs very rarely.

In short, we believe that the problem of accessing pornographic websites in the Tompkins County Public Library is almost negligible and our present policies and procedures deal very well with the rare occurrence and appear to be supported by the community.

Having said that, one might ask why the library should not use filtering software anyway, comply with CIPA, and be able to receive those federal funds, especially in the days of tight budgets. That is a very good question.

The library's staff has extensively researched the various software packages available and the method by which they are used. In addition, we have held a public hearing to discuss the issue and receive public input. First of all, to be effective, the software would have to be installed at the server level, rather than on individual computers. It would be somewhat difficult, cumbersome, and time consuming to disable the software for any one computer from time to time. If that were the only drawback to this software, it might still not be a sufficient reason not to use it.

However, the various software packages available all seem to do a poor job of filtering. They tend to allow some sites which should not be permitted, and block sites that should be permitted. Thus some pornographic websites might go through the filtering and some websites offering legitimate medical information, art, biology, and other material may be blocked to some extent inadvertently, and the user would not even be aware that such information was filtered out. Such consequences run contrary to the library's goal to provide free and open access to legitimate information to members of our community.

While many filtering software packages can be fine tuned to allow specific websites and to block others, the process cannot, by its very nature, correct the underlying problem entirely or even mostly, and is extremely time consuming. In these days of reduced budgets and staff, such time is simply not available or cost effective.

The software packages themselves, are also expensive, running about $5000 per year including installation and support. When the additional staff time is considered, it could actually cost more to impose filtering than the library receives in federal funding.

In conclusion, the Board of Trustees has decided for all of the reasons set forth above not to impose filtering in accordance with CIPA, even if by doing so we lose some federal funds. The library does firmly reaffirm its policy not to approve, condone, or permit Internet access to pornographic websites on our computers, period! Having said that, the library steadfastly reaffirms your right to access full and complete information without the imposition of ineffective filtering.

Martin Shapiro is a member of the TCPL Board of Trustees, Past President, and Chair of the Library Services and Policy Committee. He is a resident of Newfield.

For more information regarding filtering and TCPL's Internet policy, visit http://www.tcpl.org/internethearing1-03.html.