To fulfill our mission, the Garden City Public Library serves as a major information center for the community, providing educational, recreational, and informational materials, programs, and services. Our goal in providing public Internet access and establishing the Library's website is to provide current information including the Library's location, hours, programs, services, and convenient links to valuable information sources available on the Internet. It is not intended for business or commercial purposes.

Responsibilities of Users

The policy of the Garden City Public Library is to prohibit the use of Library resources to obtain, view, display or print objectionable or obscene materials.

Choosing and Evaluating Sources Carefully

The Internet is a global entity with a highly diverse user population and information content. Library patrons use it at their own risk. The Garden City Public Library cannot protect users from information they may find offensive.

In choosing sources for our website, we follow generally accepted library practices. We select sites using the same criteria by which we select books. Beyond this, we do not monitor or control information accessible through the Internet and cannot be held responsible for its content. We are not responsible for unannounced changes in content of the sources to which we link, or for the content of sources accessed through secondary links that we did not create.

As with printed publications, not all sources on the Internet provide accurate, complete, or current information. Users should evaluate Internet sources just as they do printed publications, questioning the validity of the information provided.

Supervising Children's Use

It is the intention of the Garden City Public Library to be in full compliance with the Children's Internet Protection Act (Public Law Number 106-554 and 47 USC 254 Ch.). In addition to this Internet Safety Policy, it is the Library's policy to prohibit use of Library resources to obtain, view, or display obscene materials. In addition to this Internet Safety Policy, we have in place the operation of a "technology protection measure," and we enforce its operation. Internet access is filtered by means of software that attempts to block access to obscene, sexually explicit and hate materials. As children can be found everywhere in the Library, all workstations are filtered. However, the Internet is a highly fluid, fast-changing environment, and no filtering system can be considered fail-safe. Library staff is pleased to guide and assist children in their use of the Internet, but staff cannot accompany all children at all times. It is the Library's policy that parents must assume responsibility for supervising their children's use of the Internet.

The Internet provides access to information that parents may find objectionable or inappropriate, but which is not obscene. Parents should counsel with their children and guide their use of the Internet just as they guide their reading and viewing habits. Library staff is pleased to offer suggestions, but only parent and child can decide what is appropriate for a particular child. Parents should supervise their children's Internet sessions.

Parents are urged to read "Child Safety on the Information Highway," which was jointly produced by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the Interactive Services Association; copies are available at the Children's, Young Adult, and Reference Departments.

User Personal Information.

All users, especially minors, should be very cautious in giving personal information on the Internet when using direct electronic communications, such as e-mail. For the safety and security of all users, and because of limited network resources, the Library filters chat rooms and prohibits their use on public workstations. The Garden City Public Library will not disclose, use, or disseminate personal identification information regarding minors without proper authorization.

Access Management

All patrons wishing to use the Library's workstations must sign an "Internet and Computer User Registration Form," and abide completely by the provisions of the "Policy Statement on Public Use of Internet Resources," the "Internet and Computer Rules and Guidelines" and the "Internet and Computer User Agreement." The Library reserves the right to terminate patron access to the workstations and the Internet at any time. The use of a workstation will be limited to one hour per patron at the adult workstations, with an option to continue for up to an additional hour if no one is waiting. The use of a workstation will be limited to one-half hour at the children's workstations, with an option to continue for up to an additional half-hour if no one is waiting. Librarians and staff can assist patrons in the initial start-up of the workstations. However, staff cannot provide additional instruction. Books and other instructional materials may be found within the Library's collection. Patrons who unwittingly stumble into an inappropriate Internet site and cannot disengage it must immediately notify a librarian who is trained to shut down and restart the workstation. Only assigned workstations are to be used. Personal computers may not be connected to Library Internet outlets. The Library makes no warranty, express or implied, for the timeliness, accuracy or usefulness of any information accessed via the Internet.

Disabling the Technology Protection Measure

A person 17 years or over, may, upon request, have the technology protection measure disabled. Only library staff may disable the technology protection measure, and procedures for the disabling, or otherwise modifying any technology protection measure shall be the responsibility of the Library Director or designated representative. Any person wishing to have the technology protection measure disabled must submit valid identification to library staff when a question arises as to the whether age 17 has been attained. Failure to submit identification, or identification that does not satisfactorily prove attainment of age 17, when requested to do so shall result in denial of the request to disable the technology protection measure. The decision of library staff as to what constitutes satisfactory identification shall be final. The technology protection measure shall be disabled only for the duration of the patron's use of the workstation, and may not be transferred to another patron at the end of the requesting patron's use of the workstation. In all disputes concerning disabling of the technology protection measure, the Library staff's decision will prevail and be final.

Prohibitions and Sanctions

Users may not:

Violations may result in loss of Library privileges, including debarment from Library premises. Unlawful activities will be dealt with in a serious and appropriate manner.

CIPA Definitions of Terms:

Technology Protection Measure. The term "technology protection measure" means a specific technology that blocks or filters Internet access to visual depictions that are:

Sexual Act; Sexual Contact. The terms "sexual act" and "sexual contact" have the meanings given such terms in section 2246 of title 18, United States Code.

DISCLAIMER

Warning: The Garden City Public Library does not provide direct links to sources known to contain computer viruses. While the Library endeavors to protect users' computers from viruses, it cannot guarantee that it will be successful in doing so in every case. Software downloaded from the Internet may contain a virus and users need to have virus-checking software on their computers.

The Garden City Public Library is not responsible for any damages, direct or indirect, or for any liability that may arise from patron use of the Library's Internet services.