                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

POWER AND DUTY OF LIBRARY BOARDS AND CERTAIN GOVERNING BODIES REGARDING
ACCEPTABLE INTERNET USE POLICIES (§ 42.1-36.1)

A. Every (i) library board established pursuant to &#xA7; 42.1-35 or (ii)
governing body of any county, city, or town that, pursuant to &#xA7; 42.1-36,
has not established a library board pursuant to &#xA7; 42.1-35 shall establish
an acceptable use policy for the Internet designed to (a) prohibit use by
library employees and patrons of the library&#8217;s computer equipment and
communications services for sending, receiving, viewing, or downloading illegal
material via the Internet, (b) prevent access by library patrons under the age
of 18 to material that is harmful to juveniles, and (c) establish appropriate
measures to be taken against persons who violate the policy. For libraries
established under &#xA7; 42.1-33, the policy shall also require the selection,
installation, and activation of, on those computers that are accessible to the
public and have Internet access, a technology protection measure to filter or
block Internet access through such computers to child pornography as defined in
&#xA7; 18.2-374.1, obscenity as defined in &#xA7; 18.2-372, and, with respect to
minors, materials deemed harmful to juveniles as defined in &#xA7; 18.2-390.
Such policy shall provide that a person authorized by the library board shall
disable or otherwise bypass the technology protection measure required by this
section at the request of a patron to enable access for bona fide research or
other lawful purposes. The policy required by this section shall be posted
online; however, if the library does not have a website, the policy shall be
available to the public upon request.
			The library board or the governing body may include such other terms,
conditions, and requirements in the library&#8217;s policy as it deems
appropriate, such as requiring written parental authorization for Internet use
by juveniles or differentiating acceptable uses between elementary, middle, and
high school students.

B. The library board or the governing body shall take such steps as it deems
appropriate to implement and enforce the library&#8217;s policy, which may
include, but are not limited to, (i) the use of software programs designed to
block access by (a) library employees and patrons to illegal material, (b)
library patrons under the age of 18 to material that is harmful to juveniles, or
(c) both; (ii) charging library employees to casually monitor patrons&#8217;
Internet use; or (iii) installing privacy screens on computers that access the
Internet. For libraries established under &#xA7; 42.1-33, the library board or
governing body shall direct such libraries to select and install on those
computers that are accessible to the public and have Internet access a
technology protection measure as required by the policy established pursuant to
subsection A. No state funding shall be withheld and no other adverse action
taken against a library by the Librarian of Virginia or any other official of
state government when the technology protection measure fails, provided that
such library promptly has taken reasonable steps to rectify and prevent such
failures in the future.

HISTORY: 1999, c. 64; 2006, c. 474; 2007, cc. 470, 583; 2012, cc. 805, 836;
2022, c. 355.