Despite two reported incidents of people viewing sexual images of children at ASU libraries in February, no changes are planned for the libraries' computing policies.
A female student reported to the ASU Department of Public Safety on Feb. 23 that a 22-year-old Phoenix man was viewing child pornography in Fletcher Library on the West campus.
The case is classified as inactive because data was automatically erased from the computer the suspect was using while officers spoke with the man.
The computers in Fletcher Library do not have hard drives, and all data is erased from RAM drives after 10 minutes of non-use, a library technician reportedly told DPS.
In Hayden Library, a 44-year-old Phoenix man was arrested Feb. 4 after he allegedly downloaded images of clothed girls in provocative poses on a computer.
Filter-free
Unlike many public libraries, computer users at ASU libraries do not access the Internet through a filter. State law requires public libraries to provide filtered Internet access to minors, but ASU libraries do not use filtering software because they are academic libraries that do not cater to children, said Sherrie Schmidt, dean of the Tempe campus libraries.
Tempe and east campus libraries require all children under 15 to be accompanied by an adult unless they are affiliated with a University program or using a parent's library card.
"Because we're an academic library as opposed to a public library, we can ask that children be accompanied by an adult," Schmidt said.
The Fletcher Library does not enforce any age restrictions, but most Fletcher patrons are expected to be adults because of the nature of the library said Marilyn Myers, dean of Fletcher Library.
At public libraries, even if adult patrons are allowed unfiltered Internet access, state law still prohibits the display of explicit sexual material in "any place where minors are invited as part of the general public."
Staff at Tempe and west campus libraries may ask patrons viewing offensive material to move to more private areas, the librarians said.
At the east campus library, "while we don't suggest an action to the offender, we let them know that there's been a complaint," said east campus library director Charles Brownson.
In all instances, he added, the patron viewing offensive material has moved because such patrons are often "highly sensitive to criticism."
At all ASU libraries, a complaint may come not only from another patron, but also from library staff members.
"Anybody who's offended has a right to say something about it," Brownson said.
Also, a patron who is unaffiliated with the University may be asked to give up his or her computer if a student is waiting, regardless of the nature of his or her online activities.
But Schmidt said library staff does not actively seek out patrons who may be offending others.
"If we had plenty of workstations available for other students and faculty at ASU ... and [a person viewing pornography] wasn't engaging people in a disruptive way, we probably wouldn't have anything to do with that person because we're not on patrol," Schmidt said.
Though required to have filtering software in place to protect minors, some East Valley public libraries -- such as Chandler and Scottsdale -- allow adult patrons to request unfiltered access to the Internet for their sessions.
Libraries in Phoenix had a similar policy until the City Council voted in September to require all Internet sessions be filtered, regardless of the patron's age.
Adults cannot request unfiltered access at the Tempe Public Library because it is technically impossible within the city's current filtering system, said library administrator Teri Metros.
Tempe's filter is administered on the server level and cannot be turned off at individual computers, she said.
ASU spokesman Manny Romero said the pair of recent reports "is causing some concern to the University," but University librarians said the incidents do not constitute a phenomenon that would need to be addressed with policy changes.
"I'm not ready to rewrite policy based on basically one incident out here," Myers said.
Schmidt echoed that sentiment.
"I think we would have to see more incidents before we began changing policies," she said.
Reach the reporter at brian.indrelunas@asu.edu.
