LIBRARIES DON'T SCREEN ACCESS TO INTERNET SMUT

A year ago, the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional a federal law making it a crime to display "indecent" material on the Internet in a manner available to minors.

So on many computers with Internet access, children can surf the Web into the murky waters of cybersmut ungoverned.

Web-savvy youngsters can view images ranging from the relatively innocuous pictures on Playboy's site to photos of child molestation, bestiality and sadomasochism.

On home computers, parents can install screening tools that block access to most pornographic sites.

But what about public-access computers?

At libraries in Cape Girardeau and Jackson, none of the computers has screening software. And the amount of monitoring by librarians ranges from fairly heavy to almost none.

Youngsters intent on accessing pornography would have the most difficulty at the Cape Girardeau Public Library. Users in the sixth grade and younger must be accompanied by an adult. Students in seventh-grade through grade 12 can use the computers on their own but must have the permission of their parents or guardian to get a user card.

All first-time users must read and agree to a list of policies that includes a statement on "inappropriate images."

Users are monitored relatively closely by reference staff. The library's two computers are positioned so that reference librarians can view the two computer monitors when at their desks.

Marilyn Hutchings, a reference associate, said instances of children accessing inappropriate sites are rare.

"Children will be children, and occasionally they try," Hutchings said. "Since January, we've only had maybe two or three times that we've had to tell them to get off (a site). Usually the person sitting next to them will come up and say, `This kid's on here.' Then usually by the time we get back the kid's already off."

Cape Girardeau library director Betty Martin said she believes it is parents' responsibility to keep track of how their children use the Internet at the library.

"I don't believe we have a problem," Martin said. "We do not want to be censors of how people use the Internet. We do want to be sensitive to the fact that some people will be bothered by what can be accessed."

Martin added that one problem with screening software is that it "filters out the bad and some of the good." But the library may install the software on a new computer it plans to purchase for its children's area because it will be in a corner where librarians can't monitor its use, Martin said.

At Jackson Public Library, Riverside Regional Library in Jackson and the computer lab in Kent Library on Southeast Missouri State University's campus, monitoring of computers is much more limited.

The lab in Kent Library, which can be used by anyone, has no guidelines for users of any age. Colin Neumeyer, a lab assistant, said few children use the lab, and he has never seen any view pornographic sites.

At Jackson Public Library, where children in the sixth grade and younger are supposed to be accompanied by an adult and youths in the seventh grade through age 18 must have a parent or guardian sign a user agreement, the three computers with Internet access are in a room on the second floor. When a reporter visited the library Thursday, there were no librarians in the room to supervise use of the computers.

A camera in the room allows director Sally Pierce to see who is in the room from her desk on the first floor but she can't see what users are viewing. "We don't promise that (children) won't see things that they shouldn't see," she said.

Pierce said if youths are in the room, she may periodically check on them. "We've had to enforce this for the teen-age group," she said. "We were having 14-year-olds come without their slip. This summer we've really had to crack down.

"At this time, it's really not a problem. But the potential is always there," she said.

Riverside Regional Library has no age requirement for use of computers, but youths younger than age 17 must get a parent or guardian's signature to get a user card. A librarian said the library doesn't have the personnel to monitor use of its three computers.