INTERNET USE POLICY FOR HARBOR BEACH AREA DISTRICT LIBRARY

The Harbor Beach Area District Library’s mission is to provide a public service to our patrons and it is our goal to serve people of all ages by actively providing easily accessible information, materials, services and programs designed to meet the community’s evolving educational, recreational, cultural and informational needs.

Public access to the Internet is available to users of the Harbor Beach Area District Library. The library is making the Internet available to the public as an informational and educational resource in support of our mission to serve the education and information needs of the Harbor Beach community.

The Harbor Beach Area District Library assumes no responsibility for any damages, direct or indirect, arising from its connections to the Internet. The Library makes no guarantee, either expressed or implied, regarding the quality or content of the information available on the Internet. Not all the information available via the Internet is accurate, current, or complete. Users should evaluate Internet sources just as they do printed publications, questioning the validity of the information presented.

Users are cautioned that ideas, points, of view, and images which are controversial, divergent, and/or inflammatory can be found on the Internet. The provision of access does not mean or imply that the library endorses or sanctions the content or point of view of any of the information or commentary which may be found on the Internet.

The Internet offers access to a wealth of information that can be personally, professionally, and culturally enriching. But because the Internet is a vast and unregulated information network, it also enables access to ideas, information, images, and commentary beyond the confines of the library’s collection, mission, selection criteria, and collection development policies. Because of this and the fact that access points on the Internet can and do change often, rapidly, and unpredictably, the library cannot protect individuals from information and images which they might find offensive or disturbing.

Patrons are free to access whichever Internet sites they wish, within the parameters of state and federal laws regarding obscenity or child pornography. However, the library must also respect the right of other patrons not to be inadvertently exposed to material and images they may find personally unsuitable. Viewing of certain materials in the public library may be considered improper in time, place, or manner. The Library reserves the right to end an Internet session at any time if it is creating a disturbance.

Internet users have the right to confidentiality and privacy. Users should be advised, however, that because security in an electronic environment is technically difficult to achieve and because computers are located in public areas, electronic transactions of files and information and viewing screen could become public. As a result, the library cannot guarantee privacy or confidentiality.