Calhoun County Library seeking support for operating levy
The interim director of the West Virginia State Library Commission, J. D. Waggoner, says if
the law is upheld to install filters on library computers, libraries will be forced to spend
thousands of dollars they don't have on filters that don't work. The filters appear to be a
mandated item with no specific funding stream.
Currently, federal law says filters must be placed on the computers to protect children from
inappropriate material and pornography. If libraries don't install the filters, they can loose
their funding.
Waggoner says local communities and libraries should set their own standards regarding
computer use, and indicates nearly all of them have.
A federal three-judge panel in Philadelphia is expected to rule on the matter in May.
One of the lawsuits against the filters contends the law is unenforceable and censors free
speech.
Local librarian Glada Stump is concerned about trying to keep the local library going, and
fears increased overhead. A small operating levy is on the May ballot, which the library says
would cost the average Calhoun taxpayer a few dollars, about the cost of a gallon of milk
and a loaf of bread, each year.
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