"The [Cambridge Public] Library has decided that filters aren't the way we want to go," says Elizabeth Dickinson, head of the reference department at the main branch in Cambridge.
"Personally, I'm not convinced they even do what people want them to do," Dickinson adds.
She says patrons tend not to abuse their Internet privileges.
"Most people are pretty responsible about using the Internet in this kind of setting," Dickinson says.
The Cambridge Public Library is part of the Massachusetts Minuteman Library Network (MLN), a federally funded consortium that lets local residents access libraries' collections across the state via online databases.
The MLN's official Internet policy states that while "there may be material that is offensive or disturbing...the Minuteman Library Network does not control or monitor access to material which may be accessible from other Internet sites."
But the MLN has also published a list of prohibited uses of online library terminals, among them the "transmission of threatening, obscene or harassing materials."
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