OK Library Nixes E-mail Ban
Decision is reversed so students can complete coursework
By Lauren Barack -- School Library Journal, 6/1/2005
Oklahoma library patrons can still count on these important words: You've got mail.
The Public Library of Enid and Garfield County (PLEGC), which had recently voted to ban e-mail in its branches, reversed its decision just weeks later after students and patrons worried that it would hurt their ability to work and complete school assignments.
The original vote came after the Enid Police Department warned the library that registered sex offenders have been known to contact minors through e-mail and chatrooms. The police explained that if something had happened to local girls or young women who had connected to the Internet through the library, the branches could be partially liable, says Wilita Larrison, PLEGC's library director.
"I have several retired school teachers on the board," says Larrison. "So they voted very emotionally, and then they had second thoughts after patrons addressed the board."
However, the library has agreed to continue to block access to chat rooms, and will now require a library card from anyone who wants to use its computers. In addition, the sign-in sheets for using a PC will be computerized—once the software is installed later this year.
But online games, which had been scheduled to be banned, will continue to be played in the library, albeit quietly. The reason? "We couldn't differentiate between educational and noneducation games," Larrison says.
Larrison's main argument against banning e-mail came from Enid's own patrons, many of whom are enrolled in distance-learning courses and need e-mail to correspond with professors about coursework. The library is also a hub for many children who are homeschooled and who do much of their homework assignments and correspondence with teachers by e-mail as well, and often do not have access to a PC at home.
Larrison claims that the Enid Police Department was satisfied with the library's decision to allow e-mail again. But calls to the local police department regarding the library board's change of heart on e-mail were referred to the city attorney's office. A call to that office was not returned.
