Definition of Obscene; Child Pornography & Harmful to Minors

As you know we are obligated to follow guidelines as laid out in the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA), which states the library "must protect against access to visual depictions that 1) are obscene, 2) contain child pornography, or 3) are harmful to minors." I am including links to these definitions to share with staff.

For a definition of obscene, CIPA ultimately points to state law. In Texas Statute 43.21, the term "obscene" is clearly defined. This is the definition we need to operate on when determining if something is obscene. Here is a link to Chapter 43 of the Texas Penal Code:
http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/PE/htm/PE.43.htm#43.21


The second two issues--2) child pornography and 3) harmful to minors--are well defined at the following CIPA information page provided by WebJunction.
http://webjunction.org/91/articles/content/432235


Please review & share with staff the HPL Policies & Procedures: https://hplnet.hpl.lib.tx.us/polandpro/pol-2_3.pdf specifically relating to Short term Suspension; Long Term Suspension and Indefinite Suspension. Anytime a customer is suspended from the library, an Incident Report must be filled out.

Thanks,
Shammi