SIOUX CITY, IA — Regardless how many petitions anti-porn crusader Linda Holub presents to the city council, Sioux City, IA just won’t tighten the internet filters on its public library computers.It can’t. According to City Attorney Jim Abshier, state law gives control over library operations to local library boards of trustees.
Holub hasn’t made much headway with them, either. Based on library director Betsy Thompson’s evaluation that Sioux City’s libraries have sufficient blocking mechanisms to protect children from internet porn, the Sioux city board has turned down Holub’s request, too.
Mostly, the library board’s decision was a financial one. It costs $535 annually to license the Internet content management system installed on computers to which the public has access. That doesn’t include the costs for staff time to manage and troubleshoot the software.
“It’s not so much a monetary issue for the cost of the software, but the ongoing support of public computers is quite staff-intensive,” Thompson told the Sioux City Journal. “And I think electronic filters imply a false sense of security. They are not fool-proof. Based on our experience and staffing level, it seems to me our system is working.”
Donald “Skip” Meisner, president of the library’s board of trustees, said the board is firmly behind Thompson. “We know the staff is on top of this. We do have the policy that complies with state law. Certainly, we don’t want any access to undesirable materials… What we’re trying to do is maintain the library’s mission in society to provide information and provide it in a healthy atmosphere.”
But that’s not good enough for Holub. A retired Realtor and Focus on the Family volunteer, she said she’s been passionate about ridding the world of porn since 1986, when the Meese Commission appointed by President Ronald Reagan released its report outlining the deleterious effects pornography has on society.
“It starts small and causes dysfunction in families,” she told the Journal. “It’s a vicious thing that sneaks up on you because it corrupts the soul.”
Some others in town agree with her. Merlyne Smith, a private music teacher, said even though she believes the availability of public internet access at the library is “wonderful,” she supports stronger filtering because “you don’t want people able to access pornography. That can lead to other things.”
Thompson said Sioux City’s libraries maintain a variety of filtering levels on their public computers depending upon who is allowed to use them: Children’s computers are more stringently filtered, while the computers used by adults might allow access to material that “could be perceived as pornography.” A few have no filters at all.
Before patrons can search the internet, they are required to sign a statement saying they agree to follow the library’s internet policy, which disallows illegal activity and viewing porn in public places. Librarians frequently check the computer screens for compliance with the policy, and patrons who don’t comply can be banned from the facilities.
“We have an appropriate behavior policy, which we use for inappropriate use of the internet,” Thompson told the Journal. “If someone is found using the internet inappropriately, we will remind them of the policy, which they said they would accept. If it continues, they are asked to leave the library.”
That’s not good enough for Holub. She has vowed to continue her crusade until no computer on public property can access anything that is “inappropriate.”
“Everybody knows what indecent is when they see it. It might not be illegal,” she told the Journal.
