M. N. Spear Memorial Internet Use Policy
January 2009
M. N. Spear Library Mission Statement
The M. N. Spear Memorial Library strives to provide Shutesbury residents of all ages with materials and programs to meet their education, entertainment and information needs in an environment that fosters community. We aim to be a place where past and future are joined, not only in our collection of local historical information and current technological resources, but also by bringing together community members young and old to share and learn from one another. We endeavor to help all our patrons make the most of the current technologies that can provide vital information services, as well as entertainment and cultural enrichment.
Internet Service Provided
The M.N. Spear Memorial Library provides free, open and unfiltered access to the internet. Patrons may access the internet on the two public desk top computers in the library or on their own lap top computers through our free wireless internet access. The wireless access is available both inside and outside the library building and we strive to provide this service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Unacceptable Use of the Internet
Internet access at the M.N. Spear Memorial Library is a privilege provided to patrons in good standing. Unacceptable use of the Library’s internet access is prohibited and will result in the loss of computer privileges. The following examples of inappropriate or illegal activities constitute unacceptable use:
· Using the internet for illegal purposes
· Using the internet in a way that could be deemed harmful to minors
· Disclosing, using or disseminating personal identity information about minors
· Compromising the privacy of users
· Transmitting threatening, harassing or defamatory materials or messages
· Engaging in communications which are libelous or slanderous
· Committing fraud
· Violating copyright law or software licenses
· Developing computer programs which infiltrate a computer or computer system and/ or damage or alter the software components of a local or remote computer or computer system
· Attempting to gain unauthorized access to the resources of the Library Internet computers
· Disrupting the intended use of the Library’s Internet computers
· Destroying the integrity of computer-based information in the Library’s Internet computers
M.N. Spear Memorial Library patrons with existing email accounts may access their accounts through the Library’s internet computers. The Library does not accept responsibility for the privacy of possible cached (temporarily stored) messages left after such use.
Filtering or Blocking Software
The M.N. Spear Memorial Library has not installed filtering or blocking software on any public computers.
Internet Use By Minor Children
As stated in our mission statement “The M.N. Spear Memorial Library strives to provide Shutesbury residents of all ages with materials and programs to meet their education, entertainment and information needs.” As with other library materials, the library affirms the right and responsibility of parents and guardians to guide and monitor their children’s use of the internet.
Misuse penalties
Violators of the Library’s policies, including the Internet Use Policy, may lose library privileges.
Offensive and Disruptive Materials
The library’s computers are located in public areas, which are shared with library staff and users of all ages. Users are expected to respect the sensibilities of others when accessing potentially offensive information or images.
Waiver of Responsibility
The M.N. Spear Memorial Library has no control over the information accessed through the Internet and cannot be held responsible for its content. Individuals must accept responsibility for evaluating content.
Guidelines for library internet use
· Users are responsible for understanding and adhering to Library policies.
· To protect against viruses, there will be no downloading of information from the Library’s computers to a disk or hard drive. Disks, computer programs, and flash drives may not be introduced to the computers.
· Patrons are asked to limit themselves to one hour of public computer use per day. Please be mindful of other patrons who might be waiting to use a public computer. The Library has two public computers and does not have room for more. Please help share our limited resources.
· Library staff will shut down public computers five minutes before the library closes.
· Printouts are available from the public computers at a cost of $0.10 per page for black and white pages, color pages are $0.50 each.