As kids throughout Ohio scamper to their local libraries this summer, blocking software will be installed at Internet computer terminals in all the state's 245 public library systems under a state bill expected to become law this spring.
The proposal, an amendment to the state's budget, sprang to life in February when a reporter doing research at a library in the northern Ohio city of Medina spotted some kids checking out pornography at an adjacent computer terminal. Spurred by newspaper reports and angry parents, the Legislature quickly produced a budget provision that would require libraries to access the Web only through the state-funded Ohio Public Library Information Network. The network, in turn, would be ordered to install blocking software and policies on controlling "improper usage" on Net access.
"There was a consensus that action needed to be taken," said John Stacy, legislative aide to Republican state Representative Ed Kasputis, who introduced the amendment. The Ohio House of Representatives passed the bill last month, and the Senate is expected to follow suit soon.
As the provision speeds toward approval, though, librarians are balking at a state order requiring arguably imperfect technologies to police content in public spaces.
"Our board does not want to regulate libraries," said Tony Yankus, executive director of the library network. Under terms of the pending bill, the network would be required to "research and implement or advise libraries on emerging technologies and methods that may be effective means to control access to obscene and illegal materials."
The library network services at least 6,000 computer terminals in Ohio libraries and provides all participant libraries with T-1 connections to a server in Columbus, new computers, and the largest staff training program in the country.
Currently, the library network board is researching its options. It is looking into existing blocking software and seeking advice from the state attorney general on the legality of the Legislature's move.
"It's not in the norm for state agencies to regulate local libraries and schools," Yankus said. "This bill is contrary to normal practice."
But lawmakers disagree. "State funds were used to purchase the computers and to provide upkeep," Stacy said. "Accessing pornography is an inappropriate use of those funds."
