MAHONING VALLEY Library officials enforce Internet standards

By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Jon Scott Bloyer recently left his Boardman home and drove to the Girard Free Library to use the Internet and check e-mail.
He took a seat in the library's computer room in the first row at a corner computer closest to the wall and got to work. When he finished, though, he neglected to log out of his e-mail account, authorities say.
The next patron found images of children in sexual positions, police say, and Bloyer, 43, is now in custody facing multiple charges.
Library officials in the five-county area, however, say there is little reason for patrons to be concerned about what is coming across the computer terminals in the libraries. Libraries in all five counties have policies against accessing inappropriate material via library computers, and penalties for such behavior include loss of computer and library privileges.
Girard Free Library director Rose Anne Lupert stood shaking her head earlier this week as she looked at the empty desk where the computer used by Bloyer once sat. Police have since taken the machine as evidence.
"It's sad," she said. "99.9 percent of the people who use our computers are honest; then we have that small percentage of people like this guy."
Bloyer's charges
Bloyer is charged in Girard with two counts of pandering obscene material involving juveniles in sexually explicit positions.
He also has been charged in Boardman area court with seven similar charges. He is being held in Trumbull County Jail.
Lupert said Bloyer had been to the library only a few times. She said the library takes several precautions against the behavior he is accused of committing.
All the library's computers are in an open room, with screens facing out toward the most traveled area of the room and toward a desk where library personnel sit, said Lupert. Patrons must have a valid library card and sign in to use the computers, and library employees occasionally check to make sure no one is doing questionable things.
Lupert said any patron caught looking at material deemed inappropriate by the library even once loses his or her library privileges permanently. This case is the first in her more than two-year stint as director, she said.
In plain view
Bloyer lives minutes from the Boardman Township branch of the Youngstown-Mahoning County Public Library. The Boardman branch has 10 computers that are also facing an open room and within eyeshot of library personnel.
That is how all Internet-accessible computers are set up in Mahoning County libraries, said Janet Loew, public relations director for the library.
"If you look at our libraries you will see that our computers are in plain view of staff members," she said. "Our staff members do not look over anyone's shoulders, but they are in the area and the screens are in plain view."
The library also requires a valid library card, and patrons must sign in to use the computers.
According to Loew, the library does have a policy for those still brazen enough to look for pornography or illegal material on the Internet.
She said the first time a patron is caught, employees explain the libraries' policies; the second time results in a one-day suspension; and a third time results in a permanent ban.
Loew said she could not comment on whether Bloyer has a library card in Mahoning County or if he has been banned for using the libraries' computers. She did say some individuals have been banned from using the computers, but the number "is not very high."
Similar policies
Jan Vaughn, public relations coordinator for the Warren-Trumbull County Public Library, said all computers in that library system are also left open to public view, and patrons are required to sign in to use them. Patrons must also sign a form promising not to enter inappropriate sites, and library personnel randomly move about to make sure images on computer screens are not X-rated.
Those violating the policy lose library computer privileges for one week on a first offense and multiple weeks thereafter.
Web sites for libraries in Columbiana, Mercer and Lawrence counties spell out similar policies against pornography and illegal material being accessed via library computers.
Patrons using libraries in those counties can also lose the privilege for short periods of time or permanently if they choose to look at the sites.
Filtering
Loew, Vaughn and Lupert said filtering mechanisms for library computers are being studied. One of the drawbacks to such mechanisms, said Loew, is that they can block legitimate research in some areas.
Lupert said that if Bloyer was accessing material from his personal e-mail account, filtering would not have been able to block that material. The library does not offer e-mail, but, she said, individuals can and do check their own outside accounts.
Library representatives said it is difficult to stop someone from trying to access inappropriate material, but the policies in place will put an end to the activity should someone try it.
jgoodwin@vindy.com