[WEB4LIB] E-mail in Public Libraries

[Shirl Kennedy]

This is one issue that always pushes my hot button.  If you search the
Web4Lib archives, you'll probably encounter my previous rants on this
subject.

Brent, it sounds like you and your fellow staff are making a value judgement
when you say, "We do not believe our patrons are making good use of the
resource we have provided them."  What is so awful about people using
e-mail?  I see it all the time in our library: grandparents corresponding
with grandchildren, out-of-towners catching up with back home, college
students on break checking their campus accounts...

Hello!  You work in a public library!  Do you expect that the Internet
should be used only for scholarly research?  In an academic library, I will
(grudgingly) admit that limiting the use of Internet machines for
e-mail/chat/games is probably somewhat justified, especially if there are
also campus computing centers available.  But in a public library...?  Nah.

What most libraries around these parts do is limit the amount of time one
patron can spend at an Internet computer; people sign up for a half hour or
an hour at a time.  In some libraries, where the Internet computers are in
high demand, patrons may be limited to one time slot per day.  That is how
you deal with the problem of "...'regulars' that spend an entire afternoon
sending e-mail."  Making value judgements about what people do with their
hour or half-hour is completely unwarranted.

If you truly "...do not believe that people are making good use of the
resource...," you need to stop and think about the multi-faceted functions
of a community public library.  Scholarly research is generally low on the
totem pole...compared to to the number of romance novels, thrillers, action
videos, etc., that circulate.  Do you make meeting rooms available to the
public?  So do we.  Meeting rooms are a high demand item.  There's a UFO
group that meets at one of the branches.  Some would call that frivolous,
considering that service clubs and support groups also compete for these
rooms.

And...uh...some people do belong to e-mail support groups.

Shirl Kennedy
Web Doyenne
City of Clearwater, FL
http://www.clearwater-fl.com


----- Original Message -----
From: Brent J. Pliskow
To: Multiple recipients of list
Sent: Wednesday, January 05, 2000 3:42 PM
Subject: [WEB4LIB] E-mail in Public Libraries


Here is an interesting question for everyone.  Our current Internet Usage
policy states that "e-mail can only be used at the discretion of a
librarian."  However, our patrons seem to ignore this policy and we have
since become lax in regards to regulating it.  Members of our staff do not
feel it is their job to be "policing" the computer room.  While I have been
home on break, I have observed the usage of our Internet workstations.
Without surprise, most people are checking their e-mail.  There are times
when all 5 computers are in use, checking their Hotmail, Yahoo!, or other
such free e-mail accounts.  This frustrates both myself and other members of
the staff.  We do not believe our patrons are making good use of the
resource we have provided them.  Moreover, we have "regulars" that spend an
entire afternoon sending e-mail.  I would be interested in hearing what
other public libraries do to control the use of e-mail.  What does your
policy state in regards to e-mail?

I would like to compile all of the responses and present them to the
Director and the Library Advisory Board.  Thank you for your time.

**************************
Brent J. Pliskow
Huntington Woods Public Library
Webmaster / Technology Assistant
Web Site: http://www.huntington-woods.lib.mi.us
E-mail: pliskowbj at hiram.edu