computer centers for adults and children?

[hyman at sjrlc.org]

>From a policy and public relations point of view, I would keep children's
and adult computers separate. Children's terminals in the children's
department are more easily seen as an extension of your other children's
services and less intimidating to parents than mixing the kids in with 
adults exercising their constutionally protected right to look at
babepix.com.  It also makes it easier to test or implement different
policies (filtering? monitoring?) for kids and adults. The fun is figuring
out the minimum age for using the adult terminals, enforcing it, and
deciding what to do with preteens who don't want to sit in the Humpty
Dumpty room. 

The following is a recent post to PUBLIB in the same area:


>From hyman at sjrlc.org Tue May  5 12:25:30 1998
Date: Mon, 04 May 1998 17:02:17 -0400 (EDT)
From: hyman at sjrlc.org
To: publib at webjunction.org
Cc: hyman <hyman at sjrlc.org>
Subject: Protecting Children


I am back from doing two trustee workshops on Internet policy in two weeks in
two states -- Pennsylvania and Iowa (on their great fiber-optics network) 
-- and catching up on PUBLIB. A big concern of public library trustees in
both states was  what to say to parents  who ask how we will protect
children in the library. 

The absolute answer, (reflected in some recent discussion on PUBLIB) is short 
-- we can't and, by the way, we never could.    Deep down, people already know
that neither policies nor children are bulletproof, so they are clearly 
searching for a different kind of answer. 

Study after study says that people love libraries and they love libraries for 
their children.   I would think 50 times before saying anything that turns
parents into the enemy, that baldly states that the library isn't (or
wasn't ever) a safe place for children, or infers that anyone who doesn't
want their eight-year-old to see cybersluts.com  at the library is a 
right-wing nutcase. (Yeah, I know that "protecting children" is the first
refuge of scoundrels, but some people actually have children that they
want to protect).

I empathize with parents who are trying to walk the fine line between scaring
their  kids and leaving them unaware of what can happen and how they can get
help. (I remember doing a particularly lame job of it myself).  In some
ways libraries are walking a similar fine line between a harsh reality
(there is no such thing as a safe place and the library is a public building 
that attracts it's share of pedophiles, perverts, etc., over and above 
what your child might see on the Internet) and a powerful mythology (the
library is a  place in which children can study, read, explore, and have
fun with a higher degree of safety and autonomy than many other public
spaces). 

We know that the myth has been a reality and a cherished memory for many of
us, for every non-librarian who speaks at a library conference and tells us the
obligatory "how I used the library as a child story", for parents who would like
to have this same experience for their own children, and for elected officials
who fund libraries.  This image has served us well and we trample on it at our
own peril.

I would certainly not fail to warn -- maybe with a combination list of safety
rules for the Internet AND kids using the library on their own. And I certainly
would encourage parents to accompany their children to the library or even
require it for the very young. I would be frank about how the Internet at the
library adds to the continuing challenge to preserve the library's essential 
role in a democracy at the same time that we are responsive to the
sensitivities of our users of all ages.  I'd provide specifics about how
the library is addressing that issue (e.g.our computer center is arranged
to provide users with freedom from overview of materials they choose to
access and to protect others from public display of materials that they
may find offensive for themselves and/or their children).
 
But the FIRST thing I'd say in answer to "what are you doing to protect my
child" is the big answer.  We are working hard to provide a special
environment in the library for your children with books, furniture, computers,
software and, most importantly,  staff who are there to meet their special 
needs. (If this isn't true, e.g. your library has no or not enough 
children's librarian(s), a really inadequate children's area, or no computers 
especially devoted to children, this might be a good time to talk about
these needs.) I would tell parents there are no perfect answers, but if we
work together we can bring the wonder of new technology and the wonder of
stories, books, and imagination to our children in an environment that
they can treasure and remember as we have.

Does this address every concern? No, it's only a beginning but I think 
it's a message that  would resonate with the great majority of parents and
a piece of the truth that our staff, trustees, and friends should
remember to tell.

Karen Hyman, Executive Director
South Jersey Regional Library Cooperative
10 Foster Avenue, Suite F-3
Gibbsboro, NJ 08026
Phone: 609 346-1222
Fax:     609 346-2839
Email: hyman at sjrlc.org