Library's policy does not allow patrons to use the library's
Internet terminals for personal email, for online chat, or for
playing games.
In some cases, libraries instituted Internet use policies
after having experienced specific problems, whereas in other
cases, libraries developed detailed Internet use policies and
regulatory measures (such as using filtering software) before
ever offering public Internet access. Essentially four interests
motivate libraries to institute Internet use policies and to
apply the methods described above to regulate their patrons' use
of the Internet.


First, libraries have sought to protect patrons (especially
children) and staff members from accidentally viewing sexually
explicit images, or other Web pages containing content deemed
harmful, that other patrons are viewing on the Internet. For
example, some librarians who testified described situations in
which patrons left sexually explicit images minimized on an
Internet terminal so that the next patron would see them when
they began using it, or in which patrons printed sexually
explicit images from a Web site and left them at a public
printer.
Second, libraries have attempted to protect patrons from
unwittingly or accidentally accessing Web pages that they do not
wish to see while they are using the Internet. For example, the
Memphis-Shelby County (Tennessee) Public Library's Internet use
policy states that the library "employs filtering technology to
reduce the possibility that customers may encounter objectionable
content in the form of depictions of full nudity and sexual