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Internet Access at the Austin Public Library

The Austin Public Library has offered free public Internet access at all of its locations since September 1996. Initially, the Internet stations were operated without filtering software or other major restrictions. However, we began to realize, after concerns were raised by both Library customers and employees, that the nature of the Internet and its evolving use in our libraries had created the possibility of civil and criminal exposure for our staff and for the City of Austin.

Under Texas law, it is a crime to distribute or exhibit material that is "harmful" to minors, or to be reckless about "whether a minor is present who will be offended or alarmed by the display" of harmful material. Our library's goal is to comply with this law without unduly restricting the ability of adult customers to access material that is not prohibited by statute. We consulted with our legal counsel, the City of Austin management, the community and Library staff to determine the best approach to deal with these intertwined concerns. We determined in February 1997 that Internet filtering software provided the best balance of the interests of all concerned.

At that time, we installed CyberPatrol (now SurfControl's SuperScout) software on all of our public Internet machines. Although this software gives us the option to filter material in many categories, we have chosen to filter only in the areas of "full nudity," "partial nudity," "gross depictions/text," and "sexual acts/text." Library Internet customers who encounter sites which they feel are incorrectly blocked or sites which they feel should be blocked under these criteria are provided with comments forms to use in bringing the sites to staff attention. Working cooperatively with SuperScout, we are usually able to resolve these issues to the customer's satisfaction.

Having filtering software on all Austin Public Library public Internet stations has, from the beginning, been considered an interim response to a complex question. In an effort to refine our approach, we convened a Community Internet Roundtable in early 1998. This group consists of representatives from the Library, the City of Austin Administration, Library customers, the ACLU, the PTA, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and others. With the support of this group, we have made a number of changes in the options for Internet use available at the Library. First, one unfiltered station was installed at each of four Library locations. Special tables designed to recess and make private the computer monitor and separate (rather than shared or networked) printers were purchased for the unfiltered stations. Access to them was restricted to customers 18 years of age and older. That plan has now been expanded to include all libraries.

The Roundtable also sponsored a pilot project in which an additional station at two locations can be unfiltered for use by adults who request it. These stations will continue to be filtered when they are used by customers under the age of 18, but SuperScout can be deactivated when used by adults. This plan, too, is being expanded to include other branch libraries.

Internet access at the Austin Public Library is a dynamic process. We will continue to fine-tune the filtering software to optimize the mix of Internet sites that are available to the user and to improve our policies and procedures. We remain fully supportive of the Library Bill of Rights and the freedom of access to information. However, the application of such principles must match the evolving sophistication of the technological, legal, ethical, and moral influences that surround us.