Internet

The Estes Valley Public Library District (Library) generally applies the same intellectual freedom, access, and privacy commitments to Internet use as it does to traditional resources, but with several significant distinctions due to the nature of the digital world.  

• Accessing the Internet using any of the Library’s systems constitutes acceptance by the user that they have read and understood the terms as stated in this and all other Library policies.  Each individual is responsible for their own acceptable use of the Internet.
• The Library respects user privacy and will not release information on the use of specific Internet resources by users except as necessary for Library operation or as required by law.
• Both federal and Colorado law require Internet filtering. The Library fully complies with these legal mandates (Colorado Revised Statute 24-90-601; Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA), Pub.L.No. 106-554) The Library may remove filters under specific circumstances.
• All users assume responsibility for obeying federal and Colorado laws, including copyright law.
• The Library’s public computers are behind a firewall that blocks malicious content such as viruses and spyware.  The Library’s block on malicious content cannot be bypassed for users.
• The Library network is not secure. Users assume all responsibility for liability when they choose to transmit sensitive personally identifiable information over the Library’s network, and do so at their own risk.
• The Library reserves the right to require a Library Account in good standing be established and maintained for computer and wifi use.
• In general, the Library expects Internet users will be both law-abiding and civil. As appropriate, the Library will monitor internet use to validate system security and compliance with this policy.

Loss of Network Use

1. Users may not attempt unauthorized access to any computer system. Users may be asked by Library staff at any time to disconnect any personal device that the staff member deems a threat to the operation of the computer, the network, the smooth operation of the computer area in general, or the security of the Library and/or its patrons. Failure to comply constitutes a breach of the Library’s Patron Behavior policy.

2. Users viewing explicit images in the Library will be required by staff to ensure that others cannot view the images. Refusal to do so, when requested by the Library staff, constitutes a breach of the Library Patron Behavior policy.

3. Users who violate this policy or the Patron Behavior policy may be banned from the use of the Library network. A network ban may be undertaken without prior communication with the user and may take the form of restricting a specific user-owned device from the use of the Library’s wireless network. The Library takes no responsibility for the loss of work or network time that results from a user’s device being banned from network use. Users banned from the use of the network may appeal the ban in writing to the Library director. 

Use of the Internet by Children and Teens

All library computers are filtered. However, filtering software may not block everything that might be considered objectionable. Parents and designated caregivers are responsible for their minor children’s behavior while using computers at the Library. 

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Please refer to the Confidentiality of Library Records and Patron Behavior Policies for more information.

The Estes Valley Library Internet Policy was formerly the Internet Use and the Internet Filtering policies, adopted and approved by the Estes Valley Public Library District Board of Trustees in 1997, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2013 and 2016. They were combined into one policy and approved on June 15, 2020 and revised on November 20, 2023.

Lynn Lawson, President                        Anne Dewey, Secretary