Pornography may not be school-suitable material, but that does not mean Alden Library is required to place any filters on it.
“We consider ourselves a library for adults,” said Kelly Broughton, assistant dean for Research and Education Services at Alden.
Because Alden, unlike public and K-12 libraries, is considered a place of “higher education” and does not heavily rely on government funding, it is not required to put any filters on the computers, Broughton said.
However, Alden has a “disruptive environment policy” that is used to control any misuse of the computers.
“It’s not just pornography,” Broughton said. “We will walk around and ask someone to get up if they are playing Farmville or anything like that.”
According to Chad Boeninger, head of reference at Alden, there have been approximately three cases voiced to them about someone misusing the computers for pornographic entertainment and not research.
“We can’t really filter because what is porn versus anatomy or porn versus research?” Boeninger said.
Grady Carlson, a graduate student studying chemical engineering, said he has no problem with there being no filters as long as computers are used educationally.
“Computers are made available to students as educational tools, not for entertainment,” he said.
Broughton said that there is a policy concerning children in the library and the library wants to remain sensitive to it.
The policy states that any child under 12 years of age in the library must be accompanied by an adult over the age of 18.
Broughton said that although the children must be accompanied, users of the computers need to make themselves aware of a child’s presence and act accordingly.
“We realize some people may have legitimate reasons for researching (pornography),” she said, adding that if someone does not have a legitimate reason, action is taken.
“We tell them to move, and if they don’t, the police will be called,” Broughton said.
She said there is also a professor who studies pornography, which is allowed, because Alden considers it an academic subject as long as it is not done for entertainment.
jr200009@ohiou.edu
