Illinois: Niles Public Library Adopts New, Stricter Internet Filtering Policy For Computers and Wi-Fi Network

Note: Niles, IL is located just north of the the City of Chicago.
From the Niles Spectator:

The Niles Public Library Board of Trustees has adopted a stricter filtering policy that will block library all computers and devices connected to its Internet network from accessing certain content.
The new policy, which was adopted during the Nov. 19 meeting, calls for installing filters that would block content classified as “nudity,” “pornography,” “racism,” “hatred” or “violence.”
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The policy is effective immediately, but library staff must first purchase the filters and install them, interim Director Susan Lempke said.
In discussion before the vote, Trustees Karen Dimond and Linda Ryan argued that the new policy goes too far, stifling patrons’ freedom to access information and potentially getting in the way of legitimate research. But most trustees said the restrictions are reasonable, voting to approve the policy 4-2.
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The new policy also added online filters to the library’s wi-fi network.

Read the Complete Article
See Also: The Niles Public Library’s New Internet Access Policy (via BoardBook.Org)

• Materials From Other Library Meetings

Learn More About the Niles Public Library
Earlier this year the library won an award (first library in the state to do so) from the Illinois Policy Institute for outstanding online transparency performance. More here.

Filed under: Awards, Libraries, News, Public Libraries