The vast majority of public libraries offer Internet access to their patrons.  According to a recent report by the U.S.  National Commission on Libraries and Information Science, approximately 95% of all public libraries provide public access to the Internet.  John C. Bertot & Charles R. McClure, Public Libraries and the Internet 2000:  Summary Findings and Data Tables, Report to National Commission on Libraries and Information Science, at 3.  The Internet vastly expands the amount of information available to patrons of public libraries.  The widespread availability of Internet access in public libraries is due, in part, to the availability of public funding, including state and local funding and the federal funding programs regulated by CIPA.  Many libraries face a large amount of patron demand for their Internet services.  At some libraries, patron demand for Internet access during a given day exceeds the supply of computer terminals with access to the Internet.  These libraries use sign-in and time limit procedures and/or establish rules regarding the allowable uses of the terminals, in an effort to ration their computer resources.  For example, some of the libraries whose librarians testified at trial prohibit the use of email and chat functions on their public Internet terminals.  Public libraries play an important role in providing Internet access to citizens who would not otherwise possess it.  Of the 143 million Americans using the Internet, approximately 10%, or 14.3 million people, access the Internet at a public library.  Internet access at public libraries is more often used by those with lower incomes than those with higher incomes.  About 20.3% of Internet users with household family income of less than $15,000 per year use public libraries for Internet access.  Approximately 70% of libraries serving communities with poverty levels in excess of 40% receive E-rate discounts. 1.  Internet Use Policies in Public Libraries

Approximately 95% of libraries with public Internet access have some form of “acceptable use” policy or “Internet use” policy governing patrons’ use of the Internet.  These policies set forth the conditions under which patrons are permitted to access and use the library’s Internet resources.  These policies vary widely.  Some of the less restrictive policies, like those held by Multnomah County Library and Fort Vancouver Regional Library, do not prohibit adult patrons from viewing sexually explicit materials on the Web, as long as they do so at terminals with privacy screens or recessed monitors, which are designed to prevent other patrons from seeing the material that they are viewing, and as long as it does not violate state or federal law to do so.  Other libraries prohibit their patrons from viewing all “sexually explicit” or “sexually graphic” materials.  Some libraries prohibit the viewing of materials that are not necessarily sexual, such as Web pages that are “harmful to minors,” “offensive to the public,”