The Frost Free Library offers access to computers and to the Internet as part of its commitment to the role of the public library in providing free and open access to informational, educational, and cultural resources for all Library users.

The Frost Free Library upholds the right of each individual to have access to constitutionally protected materials and adheres to the American Library Association's Bill of Rights and its statement regarding Access to Electronic Information, Services, and Networks. This statement follows this policy.

The Library also affirms the right and responsibility of parents to determine and monitor their children's use of Library materials and resources. As with other Library materials, restriction of a child's access to the computer and the Internet is the responsibility of the parent or legal guardian. Parents are strongly encouraged to discuss the use of the Internet with their children and to monitor their children's use. However, all users of the Library should be aware that the Frost Free Library will not release information on the use of specific Internet resources by members of the public regardless of age except as required by law.

Users of the Library's Internet connection agree to obey all applicable federal, state, and local laws including, but not limited to, copyright, licensing, and content restrictions. The Library reserves the right to terminate the user's computer privileges for abuse of these conditions or for unauthorized use of the Library's Internet connection.

In order to ensure the fair use of the computer technology now available at this Library, computer users are asked to observe the following guidelines:

1. Please be considerate of other users, and leave the computer and software as you found them.
2. Please do not eat or drink near the computer station.
3. Any computer or printer problems must be immediately reported to the Librarian.
4. Users are allowed a half hour of use, and up to an additional one and a half hours if no one else has requested use. Patrons are limited to two hours of use per day.
5. Users working on the computer in a group will count as one. No more than two people may be at the computer workstation at any one time.
6. Computer use is first come, first served.

Software

1. Users must respect the integrity of the Library's computers and utilize only those programs and services already on the computer.
2. The Frost Free Library cannot be responsible for any damage or loss of data that may occur while using the computer.
3. Computer users may not load executable programs or data files onto the hard drive of any Library computer. The hard drive, most specifically the "My Documents" folder, will be deleted of all non-library files daily.
4. In order to protect the computer from viruses, users cannot run any executable programs from an external storage source. However, users may save information to an external storage source.
5. Any application used by a user must be properly exited upon completion.
6. Computer users must not alter settings on the computers or delete or modify any files.

Charges

1. Any damage to a computer or its peripheral devices is the responsibility of the user.
2. There is a charge of 10 cents per page for anything printed. Please check the length of any document before printing it out.

Privacy

1. The Frost Free Library is committed to the privacy of its computer users. However, users should be aware that use of the Internet, at this time, cannot be considered secure, and that some applications may save temporary copies of data to the hard drive. Other users may be able to retrieve their work, and should take appropriate care.
2. In general, the Library will treat information stored on the computer as confidential. Exceptions to this rule will only be honored when required by local, state or federal law, or when approved by the Librarian.
3. As this computer is in a public area, be aware that the screen will be visible to other Library users.
4. The computer's cache and temporary files, as well as the location bar in the Internet browsers loaded on the computer, will be cleaned out on a daily basis.

Children

1. All computer users of the Frost Free Library, regardless of age, have equal access to the information provided by the Library.
2. The Frost Free Library's policy on the use of computers and access to the Internet is the same as for the borrowing of books: parents and guardians of children are responsible for the appropriate use by children of the Library facilities.

Sanctions

Abuse of the equipment or service will result in the user being denied further access to the service. Malicious damage may result in prosecution. If you are unsure whether your use of the computer facilities might conflict with these rules, please ask the Librarian.

Approved by the Board of Trustees
January 2007