After break-ins, Yutan Public Library considering internet filters

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By KENDRA WALTKE / Lincoln Journal Star

The intruders left behind a cold drink, a glowing computer screen — and an Internet history showing they’d viewed pornography.

It seems somebody forced the lock on the Yutan Public Library several times in the past month.

But the unusual nature of the break-ins has caused a lockdown on all Internet use at the library.

And that is raising both eyebrows and legal questions in this Saunders County town of 1,200.

Two teenage boys were caught fleeing the Yutan Public Library on May 21 after the chairwoman of the library board happened to stop by and surprise them during off hours.

It seems the pair, ages 13 and 15, had entered the library not to steal or vandalize but to view sexually explicit material, said Yutan Police Chief Sam Christiansen.

A wire or something was used to flip the lock, he said.

He said computer records show five instances of similar after-hours Internet usage since May 12.

Whether legal action will be taken against the boys is still up in the air, said Chief Christiansen.

But, in his mind, the break-ins  underscore the need for pornography-blocking filters on the library’s four public-use computers.

“I don’t have any idea how they can operate without filters, because there are juveniles in there,” he said.

City officials agreed and pulled the plug on the library’s Web access, said Mayor Christine Christiansen, who is not related to the police chief.

“This is a temporary solution until the filters can be purchased and put on,” she said.

But the library board has not agreed to do so, at least not yet, and it has rejected filters in the past.

It’s a freedom of speech issue that’s touchy at libraries nationwide.

Members of the library board could not be reached Monday or declined to comment.

Minutes from a May 23 special meeting of the library board, called to discuss the incident, reported:

 “The Library Board is in unanimous agreement that we are not doing anything wrong. We are in compliance with our current policy.”

The board developed its Internet policy in 2002. It said the library would not use Internet filters, citing court decisions and freedom of speech concerns.

“Use of information via the Internet in Yutan Public Library is the responsibility of the user,” the policy states.

But in 2003, the year after the policy was created, the Supreme Court ruled that libraries receiving federal funds must keep adult materials away from minors under the Children’s Information Protection Act.

That overturned a district court decision in support of a library’s right  to offer unfettered Web access.

The ruling made some libraries add filters, at least on computers used by children.

“It’s all about the money,” said Rivkah Sass, director of the Omaha Public Library. “We filter because we want federal funding.”

Adults at the Omaha Library can request access to blocked Web sites in writing. They also can request a filter be turned off.

People rarely complain, said Stacey Aldrich, assistant director of Omaha Public Libraries.

“With old filters, a person would be blocked from looking up anything on breast cancer,” she said. “It’s not like that anymore.”

Lincoln City Libraries have separate areas for computers with, and without, Internet filters.

Unmarried minors under age 17 cannot use unfiltered computers without written consent from a parent or guardian. Internet users also must make an advance reservation, said Carol Connor, director of Lincoln City Libraries. “It’s not just a matter of walking in,” she said.

Filters can block very inoffensive material or let through very objectionable Web sites.

“Filtering is not necessarily a blanket solution,” said Susan Hildreth, president of the National Public Library Association.

The organization is a branch of the American Library Association, which opposes filters based on freedom of information issues.

However, the Public Library Association leaves the question up to local control, its president said: “There are many different ways to deal with the myriad of material that’s available on the Internet.”

Reach Kendra Waltke at 473-7303 or kwaltke@journalstar.com.