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GREENSBORO — City library computers could be getting some new restrictions.

City Council members asked City Manager Rashad Young Monday night to find an economically and legally viable way to block pornographic websites at city libraries.

The library computers already are equipped with a device that makes pornographic websites load more slowly, to try to deter users.

And patrons caught viewing adult content on city computers can be banned from libraries up to a year.

Councilman Danny Thompson asked the council to go one step further and prevent the websites from being accessed at city libraries altogether. At the end of Monday’s council meeting, Thompson waved a thick stack of incident reports from this year for the central library.

There were about 100 occasions, he said, where people were asked to leave the central library for the day or banned longer for viewing pornography on city computers.

“I don’t want to mention some of the acts that are going on,” Thompson said.

Thompson hoped the council would ask the city staff to get the kind of software that blocks some websites.

His colleagues agreed with the sentiment. But some argued that they should wait until they better understood what it would take to accomplish Thompson’s goal.

Councilman Zack Matheny wanted more time to find out the costs or other implications of the decision.

“This is not just a black-and-white decision. I think we need to know more information,” said Matheny, who pointed out that City Library Director Sandy Neerman was not in favor of the Internet filters.

Neerman was not at the meeting to offer her advice. But in the past, she has said that filter software does not work and that objectionable items found on sites like Facebook or YouTube would not be practical to block.

Council members also questioned whether blocking certain content would be legal. City Attorney Terry Wood said he would get back to council on that issue.

“I know where you are coming from,” he said. “We just need to make sure that we do it in an appropriate manner.”

Councilman Robbie Perkins, who ultimately joined the full board to vote for the measure, argued that the issue was raised in this manner — at the end of the meeting, without prior notice — as a political ploy.

“I think it’s an attempt to get some of us on council to vote against this so you can slap us with it in a campaign,” Perkins said. “I am dismayed with the way this is being handled without professional guidance from professional staff.”
 

Contact Amanda  Lehmert at 373-7075 or amanda.lehmert@news-record.com