[WEB4LIB] Re: E-mail in Public Libraries

[Alicia Abramson]

It seems to me that a policy that explicitly states that the mission of the
library includes providing access to "leisure resources" does in no way
automatically exclude e-mail.  I think it starts to get pretty hairy when
you say that you don't consider e-mail to be an appropriate "leisurely"
activity--I disagree and I'm sure many patrons would too...The language of
the policy is so open and fluid, that I can see it supporting e-mail among
many other Internet activities. As for the legality issue, if a patron used
a payphone in your lobby to conduct some illegal act, how in the world would
the library be held liable?  I see using e-mail in the library to be
equivalent to that.  

Last, I've commented before that I find it particularly interesting that in
a group of individuals, such as Web4libers--who constantly use e-mail and
depend on it to communicate with our peers, share stories, humor and
ideas--some of us believe that we alone have the magical power to decide
when using e-mail is legitimate or not for our patrons!  As librarians, most
of us probably have a lot more freedom to use e-mail from work than most
people in corporate settings or people who can't afford home computers, and
perhaps such easy, unlimited access has clouded our ability to see e-mail as
the vital communication tool that it is for others who don't have such
ready, instant, anytime you want it access.

Alicia

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-----Original Message-----
From: Brent J. Pliskow [mailto:htwd at tln.lib.mi.us]
Sent: Thursday, January 06, 2000 8:31 AM
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: [WEB4LIB] Re: E-mail in Public Libraries


The opening of our Internet Usage policy states that "The mission of the
Huntington Woods Library is to serve the community by providing access to
informational, cultural, educational and leisure resources."  By leisure, we
do not mean e-mail.  We believe those that sit at the computer all day and
send e-mail should consider purchasing a personal computer for their home.
They are abusing the priveledge we have granted to the community.  The
clause, "at the discretion of the librarian," is a key phrase in our policy.
This allows for e-mail communication for purely research purposes.  It is
not us making the value judgement, we are merely guided by the policies our
Library Advisory Board creates.

Furthermore, a valid argument is an issue of legality.  If a patron uses our
machines to send e-mail for illegal purposes, that e-mail can be traced back
to our library and in turn we may face legal prosecuction.  This is an issue
that I have not researched enough to comment further.

> 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."

Our current policy allows for usage of the computer for one hour.  However,
it is only enforced when all computers are in use and another patron would
like to use them.  Unfortunatley, this does not solve the problem of
regulars.

> 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.

Actually, you need to stop and take a look at the community itself.  Our
community has a very high number of those with Master's degrees or higher.
In other words, our community is fairly well educated.  As a result, our
general circulation is fiction, with a good number of non-fiction books for
general research.  Our meeting rooms are often filled with book discussion
groups.

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

I wish I could refer some of  our patrons to one of those support groups.
However, I realize that it is impossible to take away a service we already
reluctantly provide.  It would cause more harm than good.  At the same time,
I will hold firmly to my beliefs that the library's computers are not to be
used for e-mail.  All of this may sound weird, or even a little confusing
coming from a future library student.  Heck, I will even admit that I am
often addicted to e-mail.  Still, the fact remains that in a public setting,
I would rather see the computers used for more academic purposes.

In the near future, it will be interesting how views will change as the
government will begin taxing for the use of e-mail.

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Alicia Abramson
Director, Library Information Systems
University Library
California State University, Sacramento
abramson at csus.edu
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