Computers in the Library

Having free computers has really brought the library back to life. I did an observation this Winter at the reference desk of my local library & the job that the librarians did the most was monitoring the computers. By monitoring I mean signing people in & making sure people only stayed their allotted time because there were so many people who came in to use very few computers. One problem that current librarians have told me about is the practically "mandated" filtered computers. In some libraries all the computers have filters which block sites out that may contain images or verbiage dealing with sex, nudity, illegal activity, etc. One library in my neighborhood still has not instituted a filtering system on their publicly used computers. From what I was told, Library Directors are the ones who decide whether patrons can view questionable materials, i.e. pornography. This particular library allows their patrons to view porn on the computers & because of it other patrons have become upset, so much so that there was an article about it on the front page of the paper about a month ago. A mother was upset because she wanted to use the computers with her daughter & the librarian told her that she may not want to do that because there may be other patrons looking at images deemed inappropriate for children. Besides that, people believe that because patrons look at pornography they may also be trying to pick up underage children for sexual purposes. Computers have brought libraries a lot of business but they seem to be hindering them in some ways as well. Basically you're damned if you do & damned if you don't.