Library’S Web Policy Supported Patron Had Asked Post Falls Council To Require Internet Pornography Filters

Pat Kilpatrick worries about kids looking up sexually explicit Internet sites at the Post Falls Public Library.

He asked Post Falls City Council members this week if they know of the hateful, violent and pornographic images available online.

“All you have to do is go to the public library and see it for free,” he said. “It doesn’t belong in a public library.”

Kilpatrick argued that the city ought to install filtering software that would keep people from accessing Web pages with content deemed by the software-maker to be inappropriate.

But Mayor Gus Johnson said the library’s policy works better than any filtering software would. Library rules state that its Internet terminals cannot be used for accessing inappropriate materials.

“We monitor what people do on those computers,” Johnson said at the Monday council meeting. “I have faith in my library director.”

The council didn’t act on Kilpatrick’s suggestion.

The Internet is a great tool that would be hampered by filters, Johnson said.

Filtering software looks for key words in the coding of Web pages. When it finds a key word, it blocks access to the site. But people run into problems with filters blocking access to legitimate educational sites, such as ones about breast cancer.

When computers are set up in the children’s section of the library, they will be filtered, Johnson said.

No other public libraries in North Idaho use filtering software for adults.

Other libraries Coeur d’Alene Public Library No filtering software. Users sign contract agreeing not to access pornography. The Kootenai-Shoshone Area Libraries Do not monitor or censor patrons online. Parents can ask that their children not be allowed access without a parent being there.