Responding to the flurry of concern that kids may forgo the beach in favor of online smut-surfing, the Intellectual Freedom Committee of the American Library Association is readying a set of guidelines that emphasize software-free approaches to keeping children safe online.
"We will suggest guidelines essentially saying that librarians should have usage policies appropriate to the Internet, and that if they don't, they should damn well write some," Judith Krug, director of the library association's Office for Intellectual Freedom, said Tuesday.
Krug said the guidelines would be issued later this week. The association will not adopt an official policy statement on the subject until the Supreme Court rules on the federal Communications Decency Act, she said.
With Net hysteria whipped up by tales of online stalkers and all-purpose crazies who might prey on vulnerable young minds, the issue of what children can and can't access in public libraries has reached a boiling point.
In Austin, Texas, a law prohibiting the sale, distribution or display of material harmful to minors convinced librarians to introduce a software program so restrictive that patrons couldn't access information on subjects as innocuous as ducks. The software was later modified so it was less restrictive.
In Boston, public libraries installed blocking software on computers in children's areas. But critics say that is meaningless since children are not specifically blocked from using any library computers.
In Ohio, a proposed state bill would require that blocking software be installed at Internet computer terminals in all the state's 245 public library systems.
The guidelines drafted by the library association's intellectual freedom panel emphasize non-software approaches to the issue of safe Net access for kids. The most basic recommendation is that librarians educate themselves and their staffs about the Internet. Then comes the task of educating parents, local officials, and the libraries' governing bodies.
"Really, librarians should just write guidelines," Krug said. "Sometimes you just want to stand up and stomp your feet and say, 'Use your head.'"
The library association is also recommending that libraries design their own homepages with links to suggested sites, institute the use of privacy screens, and place terminals away from public view so that one user isn't offended by what someone else is viewing. Finally, Krug plans to recommend that librarians explicitly remind parents that they are responsible for guiding their children's Internet use in the same way that they are responsible for guiding their use of all media.
