| Name | City | ST | Topic | Comments |
| Crowley Ridge Regional Library | Jonesboro | AR | Adult Accessing Inappropriate Mater | When our public access terminals were new, we had a few people "push the envelope" on appropriate public behavior. We have told seven people that they are no longer eligible to use a computer in the library. |
| Ft. Smith Public Library | Ft. Smith | AR | Attempted Molestation | Jill Michelle Cronk, 26, was charged with third-degree carnal abuse for allegedly fondling a 14-year-old girl she had typed messages to over a lesbian chat line on the Internet. The girl corresponded with the woman on the Internet using a Fort Smith Public Library computer. Cronk, who had talked to the girl over the Internet for about a month, caught a flight to Fort Smith Tuesday afternoon and met the girl at the library branch on Market Trace, detective Cpl. Ron Scamardo said. Arkansas Times: "Woman Charged in Library Internet Case" 4/17/98 |
| Coolidge Public Library | Coolidge | AZ | Adult Accessing Pornography | It was reported that patron had been bringing up naked women on the internet. After watching patron for awhile, I did not catch anything out of the way. Is was then reported to me again awhile later. I went to station #4 to tell him that if he were bringing up sexually explicit pictures on the internet that he would need to get off. Much to my surprise, there it was in front of my eyes on the monitor. I told him to check out and get off the computer and that he knew the policy stated on that matter. He finally got off the computer. Patron's record now shows he is no longer allowed computer access. |
| Flagstaff Public Library | Flagstaff | AZ | Adult Accessing Pornography | After __ has used the Internet station and left the library, I went to the Internet station to clear the history and location bars. I found game sites and pornographic sites listed there. 12/27/98 |
| Mohave County Library District | Kingman | AZ | Complaint / No Incident | Children being able to access adult oriented games, toys, pictures or literature on the Internet. Put age restrictions on use of Internet by policy or blocking or must have parental approval or having a parent or guardian present. We must do something to protect our children's innocence. |
| Mohave County Library District | Kingman | AZ | Complaint / No Incident | Pornography on Internet- access to children underage. Not to let children have access to pornography. |
| Mohave County Library District | Kingman | AZ | Complaint / No Incident | Pornography on the Internet. Access to anybody like my kids. Toys my children won't understand. Put block on Pornography. |
| Prescott Public Library | Prescott | AZ | Adult Accessing Pornography | obscene materials have been an infrequent nuisance by patrons who left the images in history for subsequent patrons. |
| Scottsdale Public Library System | Scottsdale | AZ | Adult Accessing Pornography | The library is increasingly populated by bums who spend hours on the internet. One of them looks remarkably like the "wanted" picture in the 1/10/99 Republic and spends all his time viewing pornography on the web. |
| Tempe Public Library | Tempe | AZ | Child Accessing Pornography | 1/28/99 Youth Library and TPL Education Center at Escalate: www.porn.com, www.sex.com, www.dick.com & www.wolfpac.com. |
| Tempe Public Library | Tempe | AZ | Adult Accessing Pornography | 2/11/99 Adult Reference: www.explicitpics.com, www.suckit.com, www.pantyman.com & www.xxx.com. |
| Tempe Public Library | Tempe | AZ | Adult Accessing Pornography | 2/19/99 Adult Reference: www.pornositz.com & www.wetdreams.com. |
| Tempe Public Library | Tempe | AZ | Adult Accessing Pornography | 2/23/99 Adult Reference: www.pyromaniacs.com. |
| Tempe Public Library | Tempe | AZ | Adult Accessing Pornography | 2/23/99 Adult Reference: www.whitehouse.com. |
| Tempe Public Library | Tempe | AZ | Child Accessing Pornography | 2/23/99 Youth Services: www.zelda.com, www.whitehouse.com, www.nudelink.com, www.wolfpac.com, www.freesex.com, www.porn.com & www.xxx.com. |
| Tempe Public Library | Tempe | AZ | Adult Accessing Pornography | 2/24/99 Adult Reference: wwwworldsexguide.org, www.18andnew.com, www.bordellos.com, www.escorts-london.co.uk, www.smutland.com, www.lucifers.com, www.sissify.com, www.explicitpics.com, www.hott-spot.co & www.barebackjack.com. |
| Tempe Public Library | Tempe | AZ | Adult Accessing Pornography | 2/4/99 Adult Reference Computers: www.match.com, www.freepics.com & www.porn.com. |
| Tempe Public Library | Tempe | AZ | Child Accessing Pornography | 2/4/99 Youth Library: www.whitehouse.com, www.playboy.com, www.playgirl.com & www.hotnasty.com. |
| Tempe Public Library | Tempe | AZ | Adult Accessing Pornography | 2/5/99 Adult Reference: www.smutland.com & www.seksnet.com. |
| Tempe Public Library | Tempe | AZ | Adult Accessing Pornography | 3/1/99 Adult Reference: www.cum69.com. |
| Tempe Public Library | Tempe | AZ | Adult Accessing Pornography | 3/16/99 Adult Reference: www.cum69.com. |
| Tempe Public Library | Tempe | AZ | Adult Accessing Pornography | 4/14/99 Adult Reference: www.thepeespot.com, www.naked-in-public.com. |
| Yuma County Library District | Yuma | AZ | Child Porn Being Accessed | A transient facing seven felony charges after allegedly emailing child pornography form a public library computer is competent to stand trial according to a local judge. Victor Kenneth Bell, 46, was arrested in February. Yuma police alleged he was electronically transmitting a pornographic image of young teenage boys from a public use computer. |
| Chandler Public Library | Chandler | AZ | Adult Exposing Children to Pornogra | Kathleen ___ came into the library with 4 children (all under the age of 13) and while passing one of the Internet computers observed a very explicit picture of a male and female couple engaged in intercourse. Kathleen attempted to clear the screen but was unable to do so before all the children viewed the image. 7/16/98 |
| Chandler Public Library | Chandler | AZ | Adult Exposing Children to Pornogra | On Thursday afternoon, while Jo and I were at the Youth Desk, a woman came to the desk and said that there was a picture of a naked woman using a dildo on the computer. We said that we would take care of it right away and Jo immediately went over and put the computer back to the library's homepage. On Friday morning, the woman called and spoke to me. She was concerned about other children seeing such images in the library. She told me that she had had to explain the "birds and the bees" to her children. |
| Phoenix Public Library | Phoenix | AZ | Attempted Molestation | Phoenix Police Department Report: On 6-29-98 at approximately 1430 hours, sergeant Ruiz was contacted by a patrol sergeant reference an attempt sexual conduct with a minor, occurring at the Phoenix Public Library...Officer Jackson first talked with Cheryl ___, who informed him that she had arrived at the library approximately a little after 1:00 p.m. and her [4-year-old] son needed to use the restroom. She walked her son over to the restroom located on the second floor of the library and let her son go into the men's restroom by himself. He son was gone for approximately 2 to 3 minutes when he came back outside and told his mother that there was a black boy inside the bathroom who was willing to give him a quarter to "suck his d___"... Interview with Damian [Suspected perpetrator, age 13] Damian told me he arrived at the library approximately 12 o'clock. He stated he had taken the bus from his house and that he comes to the public library daily. I asked Damian to tell me a little bit of what he does at the li |
| Phoenix Public Library | Phoenix | AZ | Child Accessing Pornography | Several weeks ago I was in the library for some research and was given a "ticket" for computer use. Approaching my assigned computer I came upon an adolescent being mesmerized by obscene and pornographic visuals from the Internet. He was startled and embarrassed as I asked for permission to use the computer and he left quickly. Viewing the area that afternoon, I noticed that at least half of the computer users at any one time were teenage males. I suspect many of them were engaged in the same sort of "entertainment". 9/25/98 |
| Alameda County Library | Fremont | CA | Child Accessing Pornography | Young children (about 10 years old) viewing sexually graphic materials on the Web. There is some confusion on how to handle this. It is our understanding that the young child should be asked to stop. However, our written guidelines indicate very strongly that we do not monitor what patrons are viewing and we make every attempt not to notice and to ensure the patron's privacy. |
| Alameda Public Library | Alameda | CA | Child Accidentally Viewing Pornogra | Alameda, CA--"On 3/17/99 a patron brought to the attention that sexually obscene and explicit verbal was retrieved on the Alta Vista search engine when her daughter entered the keywords American girls magazine." |
| Alamitos Library | Long Beach | CA | Complaint / No Incident | A very disturbing situation has recently been brought to my attention. Our libraries now offer unfiltered access to the internet to all patrons, including children with parental approval. The internet is permeated with sexually explicit, hardcore pornographic material of the worst kind. With a couple of clicks of the mouse one can bring up images depicting the grossest, most degrading images imaginable. These including violent images of bondage, sadomasochism, excretory functions and beastiality. Just imagine the harm and trauma these kinds of images would to an elementary school class as they were on a field trip to their friendly neighborhood library. |
| Alamitos Library | Long Beach | CA | Child Accidentally Viewing Pornogra | I have three children age 5, 7, and 9 years of age. They are regularly using the internet for their school work since we don't have a home computer. One of my children had a complaint of seeing accidentally some pornographic pictures in the internet. As a parent, I am concerned about this pornographic stuff which can affect my children's minds as well as other children, especially in a public place. I wonder if there is any way to filter these things out, so my children can use it without fear of seeing these kinds of pictures. |
| Azusa City Library | Azusa | CA | Child Accessing Pornography | Two young men and one young woman were using the adult internet computer. They were huddled around the computer screen, shielding the screen from view. They conveyed through body language that they were possibly accessing prohibited sites. One of them appeared to be around age 13, and neither of the other two appeared old enough to be a parent. When staff approached the group she noticed the site name was "F*** of the Week" and immediately asked the three to move away from the computer. The sexually explicit material on the screen was pornographic and clearly unacceptable. Staff told the official internet user _________ that his privileges were revoked for 6 months. Staff called the home (the 2 boys are brothers) and spoke to Mrs. _________. She was shocked and pointed out the girl was her 15 year old daughter. Staff explained that in the future that if _____________ were to expose his younger brother or any other minor to prohibited material on the public internet he would be arrested for contribut |
| Contra Costa County Library | Pleasant Hill | CA | Child Accessing Pornography | I am a junior attending Northgate High School. I worked at the Ygnacio Valley Library. While I was there, I saw something that bothered me. I saw an 8 year old on the Internet, looking at pornography. His parents were in the library looking for books, with out knowledge of their son looking at pornography. I would see him often, about three times a week. I did not tell my boss or do anything. I believe pornography on the internet is too easy to access for little children. Something should be done about this. They should not be allowed to be looking at such things in a library, a public place. I suggest programs be put on the computers so it blocks the user from these kind of sites. Another solution would be to try banning pornography from the internet. |
| Contra Costa County Library | Pleasant Hill | CA | Child Accessing Pornography | I spoke to Margaret and she said that she did speak to the mother. Ms. __ came up to Margaret after the kids were gone and said that some teenagers had been looking at pornographic pictures and that her child had seen them when he passed by. By that time, however, the teens were gone. Margaret said that currently our policy is to provide unfiltered access to the Internet and that Ms. Delfin was welcome to write a letter to the county librarian. I asked Margaret what she would have done if the teens had still been in the library and she said in that case she would have gone up to them and told them that she received a complaint about what they were looking at and that they needed to stop. |
| Contra Costa County Library | Pleasant Hill | CA | Child Accessing Inappropriate Mater | I was at the reference desk when a woman asked that we deny internet access to her daughter - apparently the girl sent or received some email that her mother considers criminally actionable. She wouldn't specify the exact nature of the case - said it was confidential. She has reported it to the police - specifically a Sgt. Carmichael of the Pinole Police. I explained that I would need to take this up the chain of command. |
| Contra Costa County Library | Pleasant Hill | CA | Child Accessing Pornography | Secondly, I must also share with you an experience my family had yesterday at the library that has left me stunned!!!! My 2nd grader and I went to the El Sobrante Library and I noticed a group of 6 children no more than 10 years of age gathered around a computer terminal. My son and I started to look for information on the computers across from where these children were seated. As soon as I got up to go pick out the books (which was close to where they were seated) they turned off their computer. My son & I went to another area to look for additional books. My son & I returned to the area where two boys remained on the same computer and as we approached their computer, I saw what these 10 yr. olds were so interested in....It was pornographic material! I am appalled that tax dollars are being used to spread pornographic material & our libraries are the catalyst. |
| Contra Costa County Library | Pleasant Hill | CA | Adult Accidently Accessing Pornogra | We went to the library yesterday to see if these sites were blocked on your computer system. Well....we were shocked! By merely typing in S.E.X. and accessing a website, pornographic pictures of intercourse appeared on screen. This is being TOTALLY IRRESPONSIBLE to the well being of the community. They (the manufacturers) have more sophisticated software available now, so you're not limited to blocking just key words like, breast or sex but can block specific websites. |
| Daly City Public Library | Daly City | CA | Adult Exposing Children to Pornogra | Westlake branch staff reported offensive internet use by patron. It came to their attention when the user went beyond his allotted time and staff asked him to leave. The employee noted a group of children standing behind the user and saw he was viewing pornographic pictures on the screen. He closed the screen and left immediately when the employee notified him that he had exceeded his time limit. |
| Downtown Library--City of Palo Altp | Palo Alto | CA | Child Accessing Pornography | About a dozen younger teenagers seem to trade around with each other so that they always have control of the internet terminals. Porn appears to be their main research goal! |
| Downtown Library--City of Palo Altp | Palo Alto | CA | Child Accessing Pornography | Young boy using PC--patron came by as soon as he saw her looking he pushed "back" button. Feels access is like leaving porno magazines on counter. |
| Escondido Public Library | Escondido | CA | Child Accessing Pornography | A couple of our younger patrons were printing out porno from the internet stations in the cubicles. They were between the ages of 10-12. These were explicit bondage photos. I discovered them quite by accident. It was closing and a printout was left in the printer. So, I would like to put an age of 14 restriction on the cubicles. |
| Escondido Public Library | Escondido | CA | Child Accessing Pornography | Complaint from parent of teenager who told parent they saw an adult looking at nude pictures on the internet computers at the library. |
| Escondido Public Library | Escondido | CA | Pornography Left for Children | I went to help a parent and his son on the children's internet and found tons of pornographic material on it. I don't think the SurfWatch is working. This was very embarrassing for me and the parent (male). There was tons of porno material--children, gays, etc. (men getting b*** j***s). Maybe we should update the SurfWatch program or something--please help. |
| Escondido Public Library | Escondido | CA | Child Accessing Pornography | Teenager downloaded pornography to diskette, took it to school and was caught with it. The school called and was quite upset. I explained our policy and the need for us to rely on parental supervision. |
| Escondido Public Library | Escondido | CA | Child Accessing Pornography | Teenager printed some pornography. |
| Escondido Public Library | Escondido | CA | Child Accessing Pornography | The filtering software is not foolproof. A couple of kids were actively trying to find pornography sites. When they did find a site not blocked by SurfWatch and they typed in the URL the addresses stayed in the URL box in the pull-down menu. Later, parents and kids would accidentally find this box, click on it and unexpectedly be confronted with nude pictures. |
| Fresno County Free Library | Fresno | CA | Child Porn Being Accessed | On Saturday, January 9, 1999 my husband and I visited your library to do some research. While in line to ask a staff member a question, we noticed a man sitting at one of the computer terminals located in the center of the reference section. On the screen were three nude women. I looked around at the library staff and all seemed oblivious to it. I felt these were inappropriate images to have in an area where many people, including children were present. It should also be mentioned merely 150 feet away is the entrance to the children's section of the library. After a few minutes had passed, I looked again at the computer screen. This time the image of a young girl, perhaps six or seven years old completely nude, was on the monitor. I was shocked. I notified the person who helped us what was happening. He had absolutely nothing to say. He did nothing. I continued with my research dismayed with what I was witnessing. Not only was he viewing this illegal material he was also printing the pictures. I |
| Glendale Public Library | Glendale | CA | Complaint / No Incident | Does the city of Glendale have any policy regarding the blocking of pornographic material transmission over the internet? If you do not have one, I would encourage you to legally find a way to implement a policy that would BLOCK such materials. Since libraries do not currently have Hustler or Playboy magazines and other visually provocative materials on their shelves, blocking such internet materials would seem like a simple extension or current policy. |
| Glendora Public Library | Glendora | CA | Adult Exposing Children to Pornogra | A mother informed me that a man was viewing pornography on the Internet and that her young daughter had seen this. ___ went to another page so I did not catch him in the act. I went to Jill and told her about the situation. She informed ____ that there was a complaint and that we have a 0 tolerance policy on pornography. She then talked to the mother for verification and told _____ that he would have to leave the library for the day. |
| Glendora Public Library | Glendora | CA | Adult Accessing Pornography | Dominic informed me that ____ was accessing inappropriate pages on the Internet and told him to wait for the librarian. ____ ignored Dominic and exited the page before I reached the computer. Before I had a chance to talk to _____ he immediately became defensive and said he didn't know how he got in to the adult web sites. I asked him if he had read our Internet policy and he said no. I explained that by signing up to use the Internet you agree to abide by our policy. I told him that I understood how he could have accidentally got into an area that he should get a librarian next time if he doesn't know how to exit from inappropriate sites. I also mentioned that reading our policy would inform him about what is and what is not acceptable use of the Internet in the library. I asked ___ to come back in about five minutes so that I could access the page he was on to determine if our policy was being violated. ____ became rude and kept asking why I needed to do this and that. I kept telling him that I nee |
| Glendora Public Library | Glendora | CA | Adult Accessing Pornography | Dominic saw ____ viewing a picture of a nude woman on the Internet. ____ had brought up several screens at one time trying to conceal this site. He was downloading information onto a floppy. It's against the policy to view porn on our terminals. It is also against the policy to download any material off internet by any other means than printing (you're not allowed to put any disc into our Internet terminals.) Dominic told me of the situation then requested the patron to get off of the terminal citing the above reasons. The patron didn't seem upset. He acquiesced and left the terminal. Spencer found ____ in the stacks and reviewed the incident. ___ did not deny any accusation leveled. He was told that he was off the Internet for the day he could stay in the library though. He was free to return and use the internet again as of 1-13-99 but was warned that if he ever committed the action described above he would be banned from the library. |
| Glendora Public Library | Glendora | CA | Adult Accessing Pornography | Pat Sullivan informed me about the latest incident involving your use of the public Internet terminals. Today, you signed in and wrote down a start time 90 minutes later that your actual start time. Pat warned you that your Internet privileges would be rescinded if you attempted to do this again. After reviewing your past history of abuses of the public Internet terminals, I am writing to inform you that as of today, Dec. 7, 1998, your Internet privileges have been rescinded for one month. You may still use the library but you may not use the Internet terminals until Jan. 7, 1999. A quick summary of your violations of the Library's Internet policy include: 14 October 1998: You were told to leave the library for the rest of the day after we found that you were displaying pornographic sites on the terminal. I told you that day that we would have zero tolerance for any further policy violations. 17 July 1998: You were told to leave the library after getting into an altercation with another patron over |
| Kern County Library | Bakersfield | CA | Child Accessing Pornography | ___ a Resource Specialist for the _____ School District called me by telephone to request the Library's Internet Policy. It seems a student at _____ had his backpack confiscated whereupon computer printouts containing bikini and topless models were discovered. The student told the teachers that he printed the pictures using an Internet station at the ____ library. This led ___ to call the library and express his concern with our current Internet Policy. He had no idea what our stance was on the issue, so I informed him of our current Internet policy and assured him that we are doing the best job we can within our abilities. He was not challenging our policy, but not completely satisfied either. He asked if the community had any voice in the matter, and if so what could be done to secure child safety on the library's internet. Although he is not in total compliance with our policy, he understands that we are doing everything possible to provide a safe and healthy environment. I later referred him to ca |
| Kern County Library | Bakersfield | CA | Harassing Staff with Pornography | ____ complained about the pornography on the Internet and wanted ___ to come and look at the site. I told him that the Internet station he was using is unfiltered, so he may use filtered Internet station if he likes. I also told him to talk to Norm at Beale about it. Five minutes later he complained about adult material being accessible on the internet and he wanted me to come and read it. I refused to look at the material because he goes into sex sites and expects staff to come and look at it to complain about it. I told him this is considered sexual harassment. He told me there are no pictures just words. I told him I will not look at it. I gave him patron service comment form. Later on he called Norm at Beale. He also called me back and asked if I meant to say "it's construed as sexual harassment". I told him "yes". So he apologized for over-reacting and asked if he still can use the library. I told him, yes, he can use the library and he does have the option to use filtered or unfiltered stat |
| Kern County Library | Bakersfield | CA | Child Accessing Pornography | On March 3, I dropped off my daughter at the public library in Lake Isabella while I ran a few errands. I was not concerned about my daughter as I felt she was at a "safe" place. I returned one hour later to pick her up and check out the books she chose, and found her sitting at a computer with two other children close to her age (11 years old). As we began to leave for home, my daughter proceeded to tell me: "Mom, you will never believe what we saw on the Internet!" I did not even realize until that moment that the library had Internet access, much less allowing children to sit at it unsupervised! To keep this letter appropriate for all readers, I will delicately put to you what my daughter saw on the Internet. It was pornography in the worst form: a video of a sexual nature involving a man and a gorilla. Needless I say, I went back into the library and told the three librarians what my daughter had observed. They told me they didn't think that was possible as the children were using the "filtered" |
| Kern County Library | Bakersfield | CA | Child Accessing Pornography | Patron (a minor) had parental permission to use the unfiltered internet station here. He was supposed to be viewing Meta? sites. He was alone at the station. Our aide, Terri, noticed that the monitor had been turned away from the keyboard. The patron had left the area. When she went to the station to check it, she found a sexually explicit site which she could not get out of. She had to disconnect from the server to get out, and then clear the cache, etc. Terri called this a "wrap around cookie". She will try to access the site address and more "cookie" programming information which she will send in later. |
| Kern County Library | Bakersfield | CA | Adult Accessing Inappropriate Mater | Patron first entered building and asked if we had a tv to watch the OJ verdict and I said no. The next thing I know, the 6:00 person is here for the Internet and I approach the terminal and he is sitting next to _____. I approach the Internet terminal, find it in an inappropriate screen so I began reloading it. Man tells me the young lady (which I later came to assume was his daughter) has been waiting at the desk for help for a half hour. I said she couldn't have been since staff had been helping people very quickly. He got mad at that. When the young lady came back, I tried to ask her what was going on, but she never spoke. I couldn't figure out if they were actually signed up to use the internet or what their reference question was. I tried to explain sign up time for the internet but he just kept saying you're wasting my time. As he left the library he yelled you work in the library because you can't work anywhere else. |
| Kern County Library | Bakersfield | CA | Child Accessing Pornography | The first week of April the matter of pornography was brought to the attention of ___ and ___. It is my understanding this was brought to the attention of the Board of Supervisors at this time also. This issue is taking too much time to resolve. Young people have been continuing to access pornographic material on the Internet at the library far too long already. |
| Kern County Library | Bakersfield | CA | Adult Exposing Children to Pornogra | White male with glasses and straight blond hair with balding on top. Man was "skinny" and wearing a white T-shirt. Three young boy (8-9 years old) were waiting to use an Internet workstation. When the man using the workstation finished, he handed a paper to the boys with the following URL: persiankitty.com (see attached). The boys accessed the site and discovered that it was pornographic. They came to the Reference desk and explained the situation to _____ referred them to me. I asked them to repeat their story. According to the boys, the man gave them the paper with the URl and told them, "Look up this. You'll like it". I cautioned the boys against talking with strangers. I told them to come to the Reference Desk if someone was bothering or worrying them. I thanked them for telling us about their situation. They didn't want to give their names or telephone numbers. |
| Livermore Public Library | Livermore | CA | Child Accessing Pornography | An unnamed woman sued the library yesterday after her 12-year-old son repeatedly downloaded pornographic images to a disk, printed them out at a relative's house, and then distributed them, according to the suit and the Pacific Justice Institute, a Sacramento-based nonprofit legal defense organization specializing in religious freedom and parents' rights. CNET News, "Library sued for not filtering Net", 5/29/98 |
| Los Angeles Public Library | Los Angeles | CA | Complaint / No Incident | Can you tell me why my taxpayer dollars must be used to supply pornographic material to library patrons? Although I do have some reservations about the advisability of providing computers in our branch libraries, I recognize and accept the principle underlying budgeting for this service: the library is an information center. However, information is one thing, pornography is another. Any visitor to the library cannot help observing that many of the men using the computers are viewing porno, and I certainly doubt that providing this kind of entertainment is a proper function of a taxpayer-supporter entity. |
| Los Angeles Public Library | Los Angeles | CA | Pornography Left on Printer/Screen | I am writing you regarding an extremely serious problem I just experienced at the Fairfax library. I was sending my resume to some companies and by mistake clicked on the "back" button. Suddenly I was in the middle of pornography. I tried to get out if it but each screen brought me to more and more pornographic images. I was afraid to leave the computer in case a child would sit down. I waited for a staff member to pass by and I explained that I had always found the library a "safe" place. It is no longer safe, if innocent people trying to use the internet get exposed unintentionally to graphic depictions of pornography. I asked the librarian why there are not filters and he said that presently there is nothing he can do to prevent this sort of thing from happening. |
| Los Angeles Public Library | Los Angeles | CA | Complaint / No Incident | I was shocked to learn that our neighborhood library offers unlimited, unfiltered access to the internet (including many sites that display all sorts of pornography) to children of all ages as well as adults. As a parent and a taxpayer, I strongly object to this misuse of public funds. Here are some points I would like to make: 1. Offering free, unlimited access to pornography is an open invitation to child molesters, and sexual deviants, while also providing them with an environment full of potential victims. |
| Los Angeles Public Library | Los Angeles | CA | Child Accessing Pornography | The computers at out local branch are being used almost daily to access pornography. Of the 6 computers available, 2 are located (at a child's eye level) right by the entrance of the library where every person, and especially every child, must walk by to go to the children's section. Also, when returning or checking out books, these 2 computers are seen. Although they have installed privacy screens, these only provide privacy if you are sitting at the computer. |
| Los Angeles Public Library | Los Angeles | CA | Complaint / No Incident | The problem is that the leadership of the Los Angeles City librarians has no compassion for, or interest in, the precious little minds of the children that they are claiming to educate at a local level. I have repeatedly made contact with Susan Kent and _______ office to register my concerns. ______ has done her best to assure me that a process is in place to safeguard the children from freely accessing pornography on the internet. She has assured me that any children caught violating the policy and accessing pornography will have their internet privileges taken suspended. |
| Los Angeles Public Library | Los Angeles | CA | Child Accessing Pornography | The real tragedy is that parents need to be outraged over the fact that the library has refused to even consider adding internet filtering software to the terminals at the local libraries. According to the ALA Charter the ALA will not discriminate against what can be viewed by anyone on account of their sex, race, religion or age. I have personally seen groups of kids who willingly admitted to me that getting on to porn sites is easy and everyone does it. But in every case, the response of the librarians has been that it is the duty of the parents to decide what their children are allowed to view at the library. (**2 incidents) |
| Los Angeles Public Library | Los Angeles | CA | Complaint / No Incident | The year after the fire at the library my wife and I made a $1,000 gift to the library and have continued with $500 gifts each year thereafter. I mention this only as evidence of our bona fides as supporters of the library. This week a librarian at the Brentwood branch confirmed what I had heard that it was the library's policy to allow children unrestricted viewing of the internet, even if such viewing was hard core pornography. I asked if this was compelled by law or if it was the library's own policy. She replied it was the library's policy and when I inquired as to the reason, the answer was that children are "citizens" and that therefore there could be no restrictions on their use of library facilities because this would constitute censorship. |
| Los Angeles Public Library | Los Angeles | CA | Child Accessing Pornography | Unrestricted internet use among children is a growing problem...While at the Casper Street Library, I noticed a young girl about 10 or 12 years old viewing the internet and searching pornographic sites. Patron Letter to the Library, 6/24/98 |
| Los Angeles Public Library | Los Angeles | CA | Child Accessing Pornography | Last Saturday at the North Hollywood Branch I witnessed a big problem with internet accessibility. I witnessed a young man, not more than 13 or 14 years of age, viewing sexually explicit adult material over the Internet. I pointed this out to the librarians and nothing was done about it. Later I noticed that this young man was printing out sexually explicit pictures from the Internet on the library printer located at the reference desk. Once again, no one noticed what this young man was doing right under their noses. |
| Marin County Free Library | San Rafael | CA | Adult Accessing Pornography | Patron accesses nudes on internet. Librarians have asked him not to do this as it offends nearby patrons. Possible options: privacy screens. |
| Marin County Free Library | San Rafael | CA | Adult Accessing Pornography | Patron confronted another patron about him accessing pornography on the internet. Response is left up to staff judgement. |
| Marin County Public Library | Marin County | CA | Adult Accessing Pornography | Davis opened the discussion by explaining that there was a patron who traveled between branches, who accessed nudes on the Internet. Because of the current policy this person is allowed to book two hours at each library. Further, that the reference librarians at each facility have asked him not to do this a it offends nearby patrons. Emerson stated the Civic Center is also familiar with this person, and that another patron confronted him about this activity. Discussion followed re the need to agree upon an approach to handle such situations...After further discussion, it was decided one or two privacy screens would be tested. (**2 incidents) 5/28/98 |
| Mariposa County Library | Mariposa | CA | Pornography Left on Printer/Screen | Patrons have mentioned that they have found things when they go to clear history, turn the machine off or they start to use the machine. There are no records because the material was erased and the incidents were reported to me at a much later date. |
| Mariposa County Library | Mariposa | CA | Adult Accessing Pornography | Staff has mentioned that they have found things when they go to clear the history, turn the machine off or they start to use the machine. There are no records because the material was erased and the incidents were reported to me at a much later date. (**2 incidents) |
| Mira Mesa Public Library | Mira Mesa | CA | Child Accessing Pornography | A fifth grader from Walker Elementary School in Mira Mesa was temporarily barred from Scripps Ranch library's Internet computer after a patron saw him printing out pornographic images. Librarian Nancy Assaf said the boy told her that a Mira Mesa High School student offered him 50 cents per page of smut. San Diego Union Tribune: Libraries Caught in a Tangled Web", 5/15/97 |
| Napa City-County Library | Napa | CA | Complaint / No Incident | Become family friendly--there is no reason anyone should have access to violent, pornographic, or chat material. There is no place in our tax funded and public funded institutions for guns, killing, racism, bomb making, sex, homosexuality, beastality, pedophilia. Money should be spent on education reading programs, etc. I think if the ALA doesn't get its head out they will become a breeding ground for sick individuals to share immoral information to one another the library will make it free and very easy! |
| Napa City-County Library | Napa | CA | Complaint / No Incident | If Napa library doesn't get computer blocks soon and become family friendly we will not continue our patronage and urge others to do the same. |
| Newport Beach Public Library | Newport Beach | CA | Complaint / No Incident | Library staff is instructed to do absolutely nothing if they witness a child's computer screen showing pictures of sodomy, children having sex with animals, or if they are corresponding with a possible sex offender. Something is wrong! |
| Newport Beach Public Library | Newport Beach | CA | Child Accessing Pornography | Someone in our city was quite angry after visiting our central library and discovering children having access to hard core porn through library computers. He informed the library personnel and was told they were helpless to intervene. Apparently they watch many children watching and downloading hard porn material, but the city's rules forbid them to stop them. |
| Oakland Public Library | Oakland | CA | Adult Accessing Pornography | 5/12/99 PC user complained that computer was stuck and he was unable to get out of the non-pornographic site that was on the screen. I noticed that the PC bars showed approx. 15 different sites that it had been connected to by user. I clicked on 1 of them, and it called up hard core porn which I shutdown. |
| Oakland Public Library | Oakland | CA | Child Accessing Pornography | 5/13/99 I observed patron and friend of same age viewing non-porno sites, as patron clicked on links a porno site appeared. They laughed, glanced over to see me watching and immediately said "I didn't do it". I told her to exit the site and I read the posted rule out loud to both of them. I told them if I saw any more porn on the screen that the power would be shut off. |
| Oakland Public Library | Oakland | CA | Adult Accessing Pornography | 5/4/99 patron came to me to complain that pornographic web pages had suddenly appeared on her screen while she was connected to Nickelodeon (www.nick/com). I apologized and tried to close the porn window only to reveal several others beneath each 1 I closed. About 10 minutes later she came back and said that it was happening again. This time I shut the PC down and connected her to Explorer rather that Netscape. 5 minutes later the same thing happened, I shut it down and told her we had to keep it off since we were unable to control it. She repeatedly asserted that she "didn't make it happen" in what seemed to be a sincere way. |
| Oakland Public Library | Oakland | CA | Adult Accessing Pornography | 5/6/99 patron was using the PC in HL. Halfway through the hour I walked past the PC and patron gestured to me to tell me that hardcore porn sites were gain appearing spontaneously on the screen. She said she had been using www.yahoo.com. I shut down the computer and told her it had to be kept off. |
| Oakland Public Library | Oakland | CA | Adult Accessing Pornography | A patron came to me and said that the computer was stuck. Another staff member and I went over to assist and found that behind the dialog screen was a hard core porn screen. He had also placed on the desktop screen several icons (with long graphic descriptions of contents) for links to pornographic web sites. The internet box had been shrunk to expose icons. |
| Oakland Public Library | Oakland | CA | Adult Accessing Pornography | Discussion about patrons who use the internet machines and have sexual icons and sexually explicit images on the screen which can be viewed by minor patrons. A need was expressed to change the internet policy. The problem was acknowledged but there is no big solution. Authentication software, privacy or anti glare screens were discussed as possible solutions. (** 2 incidents) |
| Oakland Public Library | Oakland | CA | Child Accessing Pornography | Facilitator informed us about computer abuse in the children's room, 13-14 years old viewing and sharing pornography. |
| Oakland Public Library | Oakland | CA | Child Accessing Pornography | Patron approx. age 14 was using the Children's Room internet computer which has a screen facing the Oak Street door. A staff member passing by noticed hard porn on the screen and reported it to me. This patron had been warned before. (**2 incidents) |
| Oakland Public Library | Oakland | CA | Child Accessing Pornography | Patron complained of pornographic sites being left on internet terminal A patron described a group of boys about junior high age just left the computer. They sneak in when staff is distracted and pull up porn sites and pull up a non -porn window on top of it so that when you close down the 1 you see the porn photo. Screen was cleared and sites taken out of memory. |
| Oakland Public Library | Oakland | CA | Child Accessing Pornography | Patrons complained about pornographic photo under a window that they close. Was told that a group of boys had just left the computer. Sites were cleaned off and taken out of memory. |
| Oceanside Public Library | Oceanside | CA | Harassing Staff with Pornography | ___ was asked to leave the computer center but refused. I had security called by Kilo. Security told him to leave and again he refused. Security told him they would call the police-then he left. Kilo advised me that ____ had been on machine #10, and produced a written document that was pornographic in content. The email address on the bottom of the document was ___ and Kilo said that____ used that and ____ as email addresses. When he confronted ____ he denied printing the document and denied that he had an email with the name ___ . I had ____ step outside with me and we discussed it. He denied everything. I told him to finish his time on the machine and leave. He said I had no right to keep him out and he would do as he pleases. When security came in and advised him to leave he made threats to me which was witnessed by security. I do not want ___ to have privileges at the CCC and definitely do not want him as a volunteer when I am on duty. Please ensure that the Dir. and Assistant Dir. are made awar |
| Oceanside Public Library | Oceanside | CA | Adult Accessing Pornography | Accessing porn on computer #5. This is a warning that any future violation reported by our staff will result in revocation of your internet privileges. |
| Oceanside Public Library | Oceanside | CA | Adult Accessing Pornography | Jim Jones has reported to me that there has been a recent rash of problems with people accessing pornography on the Internet at the CCC. Jim and his staff have carefully documented the violations and have issued verbal and written warnings to the offenders. Currently, there are several users who will lose their computer privileges if they violate the policy again by continuing to access pornography. As another measure to help enforce the policy, we are posting the following reminder at each workstation. The purpose is to remind the users that their email and Internet access is not confidential, but is subject to examination if there is cause to suspect abuse. I wanted you to be aware of the problem, and the steps we are taking to deal with it. I think this notice should be posted at all locations and if it meets with your approval, I will share it with Barbara and Margaret. (**2 incidents) |
| Oceanside Public Library | Oceanside | CA | Adult Accessing Pornography | Joan Plessner just threw ____ off the Library Computer for pornography usage. She is awaiting Donna's arrival at the Reference Desk to verify the misuse. |
| Oceanside Public Library | Oceanside | CA | Adult Accessing Pornography | Joan printed the screen; it is certifiably porno, and she was absolutely right to kick ____ off and out. He should also be denied further usage of the PCs. Our database shows 2 registered library users ____ and _____ (both residing at the same place) but neither has checked out a book in several years, so this may be a different _____ . We may have no way of getting a mailing address for this ____ since all we require in this building is a signature on the computer use form. |
| Oceanside Public Library | Oceanside | CA | Harassing Staff with Pornography | This is to inform you that on June 17, 1998, you were observed by library staff to be in violation of the Library's computer use policy, specifically, "Users may not retrieve and/or download profanity, obscenity, or graphic pictures, which may be offensive to others or constitute harassment." When confronted with the violation, you became verbally abusive to staff and threatened the supervisor Mr. Lee West with the words, "I'll burn your ass to the bridge". The Well Fargo Security duty officer witnessed the incident. As a result of your violation of Library policy and threats to health and safety of Library staff, your Library computer privileges have been revoked. You may still use the print and other resources of the Library, but you may not use the Internet computers at any facility that is part of Oceanside Public Library. Additionally, use privileges at the Community Computer Center will be suspended for six months. |
| Oceanside Public Library | Oceanside | CA | Adult Accessing Pornography | This is to inform you that on Nov 26 and Dec. 1, 1997, you were observed by library staff to be in violation of the Library's computer use policy, specifically, "Users may not retrieve and/or download profanity, obscenity, or graphic pictures, which may be offensive to others or constitute harassment." As a result of your repeated violation of this policy, despite warning by our staff, your Library computer privileges have been revoked. You may still use the print and other resources of the Library, but you may not use the Internet computers at any facility that is part of Oceanside Public Library. (**2 incidents) |
| Oceanside Public Library | Oceanside | CA | Adult Accessing Pornography | This is to inform you that on Sept. 19, 1998, your were found in violation of the Library's computer use policy, specifically, "Users may not retrieve and/or download profanity, obscenity, or graphic pictures, which may be offensive to others or constitute harassment." This is a warning that any future violation reported by our staff will result in revocation of your Internet privileges. |
| Oceanside Public Library | Oceanside | CA | Adult Accessing Pornography | This is to inform you that you have been found in violation of the Library's computer use policy. Accessing porn sites on computer #6 on Monday April 5, 1999. This is a warning that any future violation reported by our staff will result in revocation of your internet privileges. |
| Oceanside Public Library | Oceanside | CA | Adult Accessing Pornography | This is to inform you that you have been in violation of the Library's computer use policy. Accessing porn sites on computer at CCC during the month of April. Evidence of sites viewed on computer #16. Patron has discussed matter with CCC staff person , but do not have copy of letter. This is a warning that any future violation reported by our staff will result in revocation of your Internet privileges. |
| Ontario City Library | Ontario | CA | Adult Accessing Pornography | Ist warning for porno sites. He had done a search for porno sites. I observed him scrolling pages & pages of porno addresses. I told him we do not allow viewing those types of sites and told him to exit out of it. Also, I explained that we need to keep track of who we have issued warnings to and I asked him if he would mind giving me his name so I could document the fact that he has been told this info. He willingly gave me his name. |
| Ontario City Library | Ontario | CA | Child Porn Being Accessed | My name is ___. I am a mother of three small children and a resident of Ontario for 23 years. My entire family has enjoyed the use of your library for many years. However, I was appalled at what occurred on Wednesday, April 7 when I stopped in to return some items that I had borrowed. On that day, I had decided to get a drink of water, from the fountain next to the upstairs bathrooms, before I left the library. As I was walking to the front door, I glanced at the computers. The screen of one of them was displaying child pornography. I was shocked, offended and deeply concerned. I am simply thankful that I did not have one of my children with me at the time, which is very unusual. I approached one of the ladies at the reference desk. Though she knew exactly which computer I was referring to, she tried to tell me that there was nothing that could be done because these were the "adult" computers. This is false. |
| Riverside City & County Public Library | Riverside | CA | Complaint / No Incident | A lady called and asked about our internet use policy, stating certain information was not appropriate for children. |
| Riverside City & County Public Library | Riverside | CA | Complaint / No Incident | A woman called and asked if we have filters on our internet to control access by children. I told her that we didn't have filters. She stated that she would not donate $$ to the library. |
| Riverside City & County Public Library | Riverside | CA | Complaint / No Incident | I am writing to voice my concern to allow unfiltered internet access to underage children. Parents do their best to protect their children from pornography and violent websites at home. The library does not provide any protection whatsoever. Many libraries are installing filtering systems. |
| Sacramento Public Library | Sacramento | CA | Adult Exposing Children to Pornogra | 10/23/97 I was at the library with my children ages 7,10,12. A child was looking at an internet file that I felt was not appropriate to view in a public place. On the screen was a photo of a nude woman lying with legs spread. Another person was touching her bottom with his/her tongue. This child's activity was in plain sight of everyone who happened by the computer area or was descending the stairway to the "kids place". My children along with others in the area were unwilling subjects to this unsuitable material. When I spoke to the staff person, I was informed that she had no control in this matter, that is was the parent's responsibility to control their children. Unfortunately, the parent of this child did not appear to be in the area at the time. |
| Sacramento Public Library | Sacramento | CA | Adult Accessing Pornography | 6/11/97 I am highly disturbed, offended, mad, irate and appalled to find a man at a computer with internet behind me w/ pornography pictures repeatedly on his screen! When I complained to both male librarians there was no apology. I was informed that children of any age can get this filth too. 0 $$ or support from me and my family and friends. |
| Sacramento Public Library | Sacramento | CA | Adult Accessing Inappropriate Mater | 6/4/98 the library staff observed a patron performing an illegal activity. Patron banned from using the internet at this library. |
| Sacramento Public Library | Sacramento | CA | Child Accessing Pornography | 8/5/95 there were 2 boys under 18 years old on the internet looking at and downloading playboy. This was very offensive to me and my husband sitting next to them on the computer. You could see nude girl in various pornographic poses. This is against the law for children to view. There needs to be a block to this material, especially to those under 18. |
| Sacramento Public Library | Sacramento | CA | Child Accessing Pornography | I witnessed 3 adolescent boys download nude pictures of Cameron Diaz for printouts. By their vulnerability and immaturity you have provided articles primarily for sexual stimulation. It is ignorance to suggest otherwise. You have disregarded any conscious or moral responsibility by quietly asking them to terminate their access only by another's request. I am saddened and appalled by your decision to continue to allow the circulation of porno to our minors. |
| Sacramento Public Library | Sacramento | CA | Child Porn Being Accessed | Staff member was helping a mother and her young son on the internet station. Backing out of the last sites, backed them into some very graphic and offensive child pornography sites. Staff member shut down the whole system and rebooted. No complaint was filed by the patron. |
| Sacramento Public Library | Sacramento | CA | Adult Accessing Pornography | There is 1 person who totally monopolizes the computer internet system. My children have on many occasions been in the library attempting to use the computer--this person grudgingly gives it up but is impatient with the children. My 10 year old has told me on many occasions that he has seen the screen and this patron is looking at adult subject matter, specifically a site that says "Spank me" or something like that. This is objectionable for a public display, especially when there are children involved. |
| Sacramento Public Library | Sacramento | CA | Complaint / No Incident | Why do underage children have access to porno web sites on computers in the children's library section? Isn't this the same as having pornographic material available on the shelves for them to check out? |
| San Diego County Library | San Diego | CA | Child Accidentally Viewing Pornogra | San Diego County, CA library--"Search on the Internet brought up a pornographic site. 12 year old daughter was very upset. No information was given on consent forms until after the fact." |
| San Diego Public Library | San Diego | CA | Child Accessing Pornography | 3/23/97 two minors were on the internet near the reference computers. I had my 3 young children with me at the time. I took my oldest son age 7 to the reference computers. I noticed both internet computers had accessed full pornographic images by the 2 minors. I immediately removed my son from the area and spoke to the librarian on duty. I was surprised to learn that there was no policy in place to take care of these situations. Therefore, the librarian simply told the minors to be careful while others were present. I removed my children from the library and return approx. 1 hr later and found that the minors were still on the computers. It seems that these 2 boys (approx. 10-12 years old) were on line for about 3 hours! |
| San Diego Public Library | San Diego | CA | Child Accessing Pornography | Complaint by adult about juvenile bringing up porn. Warned by staff member. |
| San Diego Public Library | San Diego | CA | Child Accessing Pornography | I had a meeting with a mother of a 9 year old child that took home alleged pornographic printouts. |
| San Diego Public Library | San Diego | CA | Adult Accessing Pornography | Patron looking at nude women on the internet. Staff person kicked him off. He stated that it was not hard core porn, just nudity so it was not inappropriate. |
| San Diego Public Library | San Diego | CA | Adult Accessing Pornography | Patron looking at porn site--let him know that this was not appropriate and explained the policy. He thanked me for explaining the policy and stopped. |
| San Diego Public Library | San Diego | CA | Adult Accessing Pornography | Patron went from station #1 to station #3, then went back to #1. I noticed #3 was on a hardcore porn sight. |
| San Francisco Public Library | San Francisco | CA | Adult Accessing Pornography | Faun reported that GIC has been having some problems with Internet users viewing hard-core pornography at terminals close to and visible to the reference desk. I added that more of this has been seen near our reference desk lately, too. Roberto suggests that we call Security when this happens; they will refer the patrons to the 3 more private terminals on 5th and 6th floors. (**2 incidents) 8/12/97 |
| San Joaquin County Law Library | Stockton | CA | Child Accessing Inappropriate Mater | On Saturday, a patron came to the desk saying that the person on the public internet was trying to view inappropriate material. Turns out that it was a teenager, who left at a run when we went to investigate. The teen came back 30 minutes later, being towed by his guardian. The father asked for the library's version of what happened. It seems that the teen knew that the site was forbidden at his house, but wanted to try it out here. The father thought that we did handle the incident appropriately, but wanted to know why: 1. the internet was in that location, 2. the internet doesn't have a filter. I explained about the phone lines (1) and the plan for wiring, and the library's policy for inappropriate use and against filters. He was OK with the explanation, but mentioned that he was one of the people who lobbied successfully against cigarette machines in Manteca. The man's last name is ______________. I don't know if we will hear more about this, but I thought you should know. |
| San Marina Public Library | San Marino | CA | Child Accessing Pornography | Patron noticed Jr. High school kid looking at pornography on the internet, and advised her of library's zero tolerance for this behavior and reminded him that the librarian on duty at the time had spoken to the offender and cut off his access. Librarian also pointed out that a filtered station is available in the boys and girls room. Patron seemed mollified. |
| San Mateo County Library | San Mateo | CA | Complaint / No Incident | We are writing to express our concern that the library system has not implemented internet filters on its public computers in order to protect minors form accessing dangerous and pornographic sites. Why does the American Library Association support a link on its website to the "Go ask Alice" site which is highly distasteful and unsuitable for young eyes and should have no place in the lives of children? Shouldn't the library system be a positive influence and safe environment for minors and not a place for parents to fear? We urge you to install filters on all public computers that have internet access in the county libraries. Not doing so promotes the moral decay that is pervading society and influencing our children so negatively. |
| Santa Clara County Free Library | San Jose | CA | Adult Accidentally Viewing Pornogra | I have just learned how to use the Internet and am amazed at all the information available to me. While accessing all this wonderful information, I have stumble over some unbelievably raunchy pornographic sites THAT I WAS NOT LOOKING FOR. One site boasted XXX nude photos of interracial couples. I was looking for information on interracial adoption. I am appalled that this type of information is so easily accessible in the children's section of the library. Children do not even have to be looking for pornography to be confronted with it. You can do something about this. Allow filters on the computers in the children's area. You will not harm by child's First Amendment rights by this action. We love our local library and want to feel safe there again. |
| Santa Clara County Free Library | San Jose | CA | Child Accessing Pornography | I was using terminal with 11 year old daughter to search for books. Next to us, 2 young boys (10-12) were using the Internet. Linda was helping them. 1 boy asked what "filtered" means. Linda responded "that means you may not be able to see everything you would want to. However you can use the Internet on the adult side where the Internet is unfiltered. Which do you want to use, filtered or unfiltered." I went to search for books. In the next few minutes, my daughter found me to report that one of the same boys returned to using the Internet and displayed a picture of a topless women in front of the terminal screen (the boys) in full view of my daughter. "Oh cool, naked ladies," was his response. By the time I returned the boys were gone from the children's area. I did not look for them on adult side. Sort of shocked that it had even occurred. |
| Santa Clara County Free Library | San Jose | CA | Child Accessing Pornography | In library with my 11 year old son. He told me a boy on the children's side was looking at pornography. I looked - picture was obscene - a couple engaged in sex in kneeling position - erect penis visible. Told librarian "filter doesn't seem to be working." She assisted the boy in backing out of that site and finding what he said he wanted. |
| Santa Clara County Public Library | Santa Clara County | CA | Child Accessing Pornography | CYNTHIA WALKER: I have twice seen youngsters accessing pornography. Once it was two juveniles, teenagers, young teenagers, like 14, who were pulling up pornography. And I told the librarian, and she came and sort of said there must be something better you can look at. PBS NewsHour Transcript: "Libraries and Pornography", 8/7/97 (**2 incidents) |
| Santa Clara County Public Library | Santa Clara County | CA | Child Accidentally Viewing Pornogra | Last week KIDS members told the JPA tales of their children being exposed while doing research, as in the case of a girl who found Playboy links while looking up information on rabbits. Cupertino Courier: "Internet Access a Concern", 1/28/98 |
| Santa Cruz Public Library | Santa Cruz | CA | Harassing Staff with Pornography | A friend of mine approached a man viewing pornography on an internet terminal and approached him by telling him it was inappropriate to look at that (the pornography) in a public library and also that children frequent the library and could easily be exposed to what is being viewed on the screen. A few moments after the confrontation the offending patron approached my friend and I and proclaimed he did not appreciate being watched over his shoulder...He was belligerent, said it was his right to look at what he wanted...I told him that he could look at porno sites if he wanted but not here. He became louder. I told him if he did not cooperate I would have to call the police...Then he left the library. 10/6/98 |
| Santa Cruz Public Library | Santa Cruz | CA | Adult Accessing Pornography | Donna mentioned that Jim had cleaned up downloaded material from Net on the various Internet PCs. And he noted someone had tried, unsuccessfully, to call a "porn" site in Ghana, Africa. 6/12/98 |
| Santa Cruz Public Library | Santa Cruz | CA | Pornography Left on Printer/Screen | Julie, today a patron pointed out to me that one our computers was frozen. ...When I unlocked it, it was in a pornography screen. Earlier today I noticed the boy that we've have trouble with on the internet. My guess is that he was the one...What about banning him from the Internet altogether? 2/12/98 |
| Santa Cruz Public Library | Santa Cruz | CA | Child Accessing Pornography | While in the library this afternoon, April 28, I was witness to two teenage boys, on separate terminals, online with a "chat" group. The 1 inch full caption was PUSSY. Also witness to this were several young [12 and under] children, watching the show. 4/28/98 |
| Santa Maria Public Library | Santa Maria | CA | Complaint / No Incident | It has recently been brought to my attention that our local libraries are not family friendly. When I learned that the ALA advocates child pornography, I was shocked. The ALA states that if they put a block on computers it would violate our children's freedom of choice. I am positive that when the Constitution was written, it wasn't meant for children to see sexually explicit things on the internet There is a website called "Go Ask Alice" which they promote--this website describes deviant sexual practices. There is so much wrong with this world today, why would the ALA want to distribute pornography to babies? This organization has to be made up of a lot of very sick people. Tell me, if you are a father or grandfather, would you want such disgusting material shown to your children or grandchildren? |
| Santa Monica Public Library | Santa Monica | CA | Adult Accessing Pornography | Abuse of internet computer. People wasting this resource on X-rated sites, games, chat sites. Suggest that you block a X-rated, games and chat sites. |
| Santa Monica Public Library | Santa Monica | CA | Complaint / No Incident | I am very concerned about your policy/responsibilities on usage of the internet--particularly for young children and teenagers. I frankly find it strange that I have to monitor my child's use at the library when he/she should be doing their research on their own--isn't that the purpose of going to the library--not to have me looking over their shoulders for hours at a time. |
| Santa Monica Public Library | Santa Monica | CA | Adult Accessing Pornography | I walked by the bank of internet computers on the way to the book racks and had the great misfortune to see a terrible pornographic picture on a man's screen. You need a policy to stop this. I am very angry that I had to see that w/o my consent at the public library. |
| Santa Monica Public Library | Santa Monica | CA | Complaint / No Incident | Pornographic, violent information is at an all time high. I cannot believe that the library believes that this type of information is educational. |
| Sierra Madre Public Library | Sierra Madre | CA | Adult Accessing Pornography | Patron used the library's internet station without following our polices or procedures. He did not ask for an appointment to use it (large sign above the computer informs patrons they must sign up), read the policy and sign the Internet Use Guidelines & Policy Agreement Form. Patron reserved an appt to use the internet station. He informed staff that there was someone on it. Marilyn Peppin approached the patron and told him that he is required to sign up first and read the policy and procedures. He left the station with the sexlink site on the screen. It showed female genitals from the rear that were either of a child or a woman who was shaved. |
| Sonoma County Library | Santa Rosa | CA | Adult Exposing Children to Pornogra | Hi, ____, This is a situation you will want to be aware of. I spoke w/a woman on the phone this late afternoon. Her name is ____. She told me that her girlfriend was at ___ last night, w/ her kids, and that they were using Netscape. ____ herself was not here. Evidently, that woman was sitting next to 1 or 2 men who were using the other Netscape station. She found the "pornographic-type images" that were on the other screen very objectionable and spoke w/ ______ about it last night. Anyway, Ms. ____ said this girlfriend of hers was telling everybody she could at the elementary school about it this morning. Ms. ___ was very upset after hearing of her friend's experience and that is why she called. When I told her you were out of the building at a meeting but would be in on Friday, she said she couldn't wait that long to talk to you. I gave her ___ name and sent phone no. and also gave her Roger Pearson's name. I phoned __ right away to tell him and also spoke w/ _____ (Roger Pearson wasn't in) and tol |
| Sonoma County Library | Santa Rosa | CA | Adult Exposing Children to Pornogra | I frequent the _ Library. On at least 2 occasions in the last 4 months I have witnessed the downloading of nude women on the comp. in the center of the library. Along with me, browsing in the library, were my 2 young, impressionable sons. I discussed this with the fellow in charge of this area, a Mr. _, I believe and was told that there was little that could be done as the comp area is accessible to all & they are not censored as to the material they can peruse. He also told me that on a previous day a group of school children had come in on a field trip with their teachers & ended up near a computer where someone was downloading "inappropriate" material & the teacher had to go and deal with the person herself & request him to stop downloading these images while the children were around. Now I know there is freedom of speech, etc., but where & when do we draw the line at the type of images that our children are privy too? Parents can take care of these issues at home but our control seems to fade as we ente |
| Sonoma County Library | Santa Rosa | CA | Harassing Staff with Pornography | I know this is not the first time I have expressed this, BUT I feel a need to express myself on this issue again. I am personally offended having to work in surroundings where pornography is openly viewed. Today I was photocopying the time sheets and I had a full view of the Internet workstation and could very clearly see 10 feet away what was being viewed. The privacy screens do not work from straight on. They only omit a sidelong view. I thought the info from Project Hope was very interesting in the Commission packet. I especially agree with their points on workstations in the children's area. Thanks for letting me vent. |
| Sonoma County Library | Santa Rosa | CA | Child Porn Being Accessed | The use of the Internet station by individual. for accessing sex sites seems to be increasing. There are 3 men on my shift who come in regularly, perhaps daily. One views child porn of nude boys in tubs, the 2nd accesses genital piercing sites & the 3rd views nude male hustler ads. Besides these 3 regulars I have looked over from the Circ desk & seen such sites as "school girl sluts" & other x rated images. These images are clearly visible from the Circ Desk, Ref Desk and the 2 PAC's behind the Internet station. The privacy screen's completely ineffective. It's very troubling to me that this activity's going on while children are present in the bldg. They're being exposed to images & individual of aberrant or x rated sexuality. What does it mean to have child molester posters up in our staff lounge & yet we make daily Internet appointments for someone to watch kiddy porn in the library on the library comp? Isn't this crazy? It's also troubling that time on the only Internet station is taken up by these users |
| South Pasadena Public Library | South Pasadena | CA | Adult Accessing Pornography | On Friday, February 19, 1999, I observed a young male patron who used the internet intermittently for several hours to make copies of patently pornographic materials, including photographs of naked women. |
| South San Francisco Public Library | South San Francisco | CA | Adult Accessing Pornography | A male patron complained that the man next to him on the internet was looking at s&m and he was uncomfortable. I retrieved a copy of our internet policy for adults, circled the line about some sites not being appropriate in a public setting and asked the patron to talk with me (he was not at an inappropriate site when I approached him). He said he had just stumbled upon these sites and would not view them again. He thanked me and went back to the terminal. When he left, I thanked the other patron for complaining and noted it was the 1st complaint we had received since we made internet available to the public. He mentioned that the patron did not stumble onto these sites, he had a list of address which he typed in to view the appropriate pages. |
| South San Francisco Public Library | South San Francisco | CA | Adult Accessing Pornography | Library staff member reported there had been an incident at the Oyster Point internet station. A patron had just sat down to use the station, went into "history" and was linked to a "sexual-themed" site. Staff member apologized and cleared the cache. I saw 2 of the links and, although sexual in nature, both pages were not pornographic--they were "teaser" homepages for adult internet sites. |
| South San Francisco Public Library | South San Francisco | CA | Child Accessing Pornography | Patrons brought 2 "obscene" pictures that another patron supposedly printed from the internet station. He wrote on a picture and gave it to a girl whose mother passed it on to the school secretary who gave it to the principal who called the police. Staff spoke with his mother and told them he is banned from the internet machines. |
| Sunnyvale Public Library | Sunnyvale | CA | Child Porn Being Accessed | During a visit at the copy machine once I was able to view one of the monitors for the internet screen. The person was viewing child pornography. I complained to the library staff and was informed that nothing could be done to stop this. I was very shocked and frustrated! |
| Sunnyvale Public Library | Sunnyvale | CA | Adult Accessing Pornography | I suggested that the people who choose to look at pornographic material do so in their own private space. As a person who enjoys coming to the library and using its services, I do not enjoy looking at pornographic and degrading pictures of women and feeling uncomfortable. One suggestion is for those people to look at this in private and enjoy themselves in private too! |
| Sunnyvale Public Library | Sunnyvale | CA | Complaint / No Incident | I would like to express my opposition to unrestricted Internet access at the public libraries for children. Children should not be able to access pornographic material at our libraries. |
| Sunnyvale Public Library | Sunnyvale | CA | Adult Accessing Pornography | You have to do something about the porno someone is programming on your PC's (internet). I used #8 and in trying to search different programs, I got porno. Someone needs to go through the PC and eliminate this garbage. |
| Temecula Public Library | Temecula | CA | Child Accessing Pornography | Last summer, Jeff Smith, a fourth-grade teacher from Murrieta, Calif., asked librarians in nearby Temecula to stop a couple of teen-agers from connecting with racist and pornographic material on Net-connected terminals in full view of other patrons. MSNBC: "Libraries' Legal Ground Unsettled", 3/97 |
| Los Angeles Public Library | Los Angeles | CA | Child Porn Being Accessed | A convicted child molester who routinely used computers at the Los Angeles Central Library to collect and distribute child pornography was arrested after planning what he thought would be a sexual liaiso n with six youngsters--one as young as 3, police said Thursday... "He would go to the library as soon as it opened up and signed up to use each computer on each floor," Miranda said. "From there he maintained his Web site, while e-mailing and communicating with members of his club. He sent me as many as 300 images of child pornography." Los Angeles Times, 2/11/99 |
| Los Angeles Public Library | Los Angeles | CA | Adult Accessing Pornography | In the Los Angeles Central Library, for instance, the machines are regularly steered to online photos of naked women, digitized videos of sex acts and ribald chat-room discussions. A few patrons even use stolen or made-up credit card numbers to visit pay-per-peep porn sites, according to a browser familiar with the scam. Despite a 30-minute time limit on Internet use at the Los Angeles Library, for example, legitimate researchers sometimes have to wait in line because the machines are tied up by people perusing personal ads or X-rated chat rooms. One of the sex browsers, an 18-year-old college student who declined to be identified (we'll call him Patron X), says he and at least half a dozen friends - plus assorted businessmen and ``street people'' - routinely cruise the Central Library Internet for porn. That last part, computer-savvy homeless people, might seem hard to imagine, but Patron X says they're ``really good at this.... We trade secrets.'' One of the most prized tricks: finding Internet sites tha |
| San Diego Public Library | San Diego | CA | Child Accessing Pornography | Shortly after Internet service arrived at the Malcom X Library in Valencia Park past year, an irate parent showed up at librarian Natalie Rencher's desk to complain. Her son had printed out a piece of pornography found on the library's terminal connected to the World Wide Web. Rencher said she sympathized with the mother but told her that parents, not librarians, are responsible for children's actions. San Diego Union Tribune: Libraries Caught in a Tangled Web", 5/15/97 |
| Santa Cruz Public Library | Santa Cruz | CA | Adult Accessing Pornography | It seems that it is only one person who is viewing inappropriate sites on the internet. Betty confronted him on Sunday and told him that what he was looking at was not OK in a public area at which point he left the building. 4/6/98 |
| Santa Cruz Public Library | Santa Cruz | CA | Pornography Left on Printer/Screen | On a couple of occasions staff has noticed when shutting down PACs that X-rated sites have been accessed - they're nearly impossible to shut down without rebooting. (**2 incidents) 12/10/98 |
| Santa Cruz Public Library | Santa Cruz | CA | Pornography Left on Printer/Screen | Patron was printing at the express printer terminal and found that several pages of pornography had been queued and was printing...Cancelled all print jobs on the printer. 7/28/98 |
| Santa Cruz Public Library | Santa Cruz | CA | Child Accessing Pornography | The two juveniles who were viewing the "porn" sites seem to be keeping a low profile. They are making the windows very small while viewing these sites. 4/25/98 |
| Thousand Oaks Public Library | Thousand Oaks | CA | Adult Accessing Pornography | Patron ___ signed Internet access policy and used the #2 workstation for approximately ten minutes. He did not logout after the session and when I attempted to close, several screens of "adult/sex/porn" content appeared. I closed Internet access and when patron reappeared with a question about library cards, told him what I had just seen. I explained that he had violated the policy that he had just signed. He offered an explanation/excuse but I stressed the policy and the fact that the workstations are open and visible in the library. He apologized and left. Additional comments: I'm pleased that ___ handled this incident this way. I assume he is not a patron. He won't have access after Oct. 1, 1997. |
| Vista Public Library | Vista | CA | Child Accessing Pornography | An 11-year-old boy was found to be looking at pictures of naked women in a Vista library. San Diego Daily Transcript: "Ban Urged On Kids' Access To Porn At Library", 5/30/97 |
| Arapahoe Library District | Littleton | CO | Complaint / No Incident | I have major concerns about non-censorship of the internet for children 18 and under. Please voice my objections to exposing our youth to unlimited access to violence and pornographic materials. My vote for funding the American Library Association will strongly be influenced by the position ALA takes. |
| Denver Public Library | Denver | CO | Adult Accessing Pornography | I have seen several printouts that could be called nothing less than pornographic. Also many pages are printed that are stories, scripts, etc.--very lengthy. I realize you can't control what is printed, but I resent my tax dollars paying for the paper and cartridges for this junk. |
| Denver Public Library | Denver | CO | Adult Accessing Pornography | Is there any way you could move the internet stations outside of the 4th floor study rooms? I am a student who studies here 5 days a week and almost daily the station is occupied by 1 or more men looking at pornographic and violent scenes on the internet. These men are occasionally loud and they spend time staring into the study rooms while printing out pornography. I'd feel very uncomfortable if the door didn't lock and feel it necessary to bring a cell phone in with me every day. (**2 incidents) |
| Denver Public Library | Denver | CO | Adult Accessing Pornography | It concerns me how much pornographic matter I see on other patron's computers. A lot of this can be seen on the 4th floor. I worry if I can see it-children can walk by and see it also. No child should see this trash. Can't you make an adult computer room, because I know there is no law against people looking at porno on the internet in a public library. As a taxpayer my big complaint to you about this matter is that I have noticed these low lives carry out an inch of paper--getting smut off the internet--and who pays for this--the taxpayers! Me! You! Its not right. |
| Denver Public Library | Denver | CO | Adult Exposing Children to Pornogra | My son and I were here on 9/3/98 doing research for some school reports. There was a man directly behind us on a computer browsing hard core pornograph |