He he he he... or 'used by college students who can't get it on in their dorms because their roommates are sleeping'.

about libraries and the internet.....

I absolutely HATE that libraries are full of computers. The kids and I jump in the car about once a week to go to the library and all the kids are lined up to play computer games!!!! GRRRR

My kids are distracted by it and it leaves mothers like myself frustrated.

The Library is for READING!!! grrr

::rant over::

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

I can go you one worse. The kid's section of our library has a Playstation right in the middle of it. What the hell are they thinking?!

Computers are an excellent tool to have in a library, but they should have software installed to block any flash or video files. (No games or pr0n.)

There is a vast amount of information to be had on the interwebz and if people can't afford to have access to it at home, then it's great that they can get it at the local library.

But really? A fucking Playstation?

I agree in part, MGR. Where I disagree there is the children's library. Children use the internet almost every day in schools now. Some of the more affluent schools even have laptops on the desks of each child.

Keep the computers in a special room or in adult areas.

Children need to be reading more. We have so many screens in our house it's ridiculous. For kids, the library needs to be all about the books and quiet time to browse and read. (addition) I need to take my kids there, because in the evenings when my husband is home from work..he WILL play Xbox. There is no capturing my kid's attention w/ a story after that.

It's all about drawing in more patrons I think. There are tons of kids in the library after school, but the mom's are looking for books for them while the kids play games on the computers or play w/ the toys in the play areas they have now. Virtually no kids are browsing for books. When are these kids going to learn how to use the library?

For Playstations to be there too? I'm not surprised anymore

Right on SG! We live about 1/2 a block from a community library and it makes me balk every time I go and see every computer used by kids. Every single one playing Adventure Quest or someought. I think my wife is the only one in the young readers section (she has a love for youth literature.)

What bothers me too is that it's not even quiet anymore. The kids are saying "hey what level are you?" and "No no, go left, go left!"

... Damn I'm getting old. I sound like a crabby ol' miser.

My old roomate used to work at one, and its actually permitted to look at porn at the library. All you have to do is ask the librarian for a "view blocker" that you basically put around the screen and where you're sitting, and jerk away!

Most public libraries are just trying to find ways to get people to come in and to stay relevant in our Googlized society.

Each library has their own rules about gaming, but the U.S. Feds are pretty uptight about the porn. According to CIPA, a school or public library may choose to offer unfiltered access (porn) but will lose all federal funding if they do. We filter our content. There are ways around the filter, though, and we do get alot of those who just like to come in and cause trouble.

My biggest gripe about the computer usage at the college libraries is that people also abuse them for non research purposes... I cannot count how many times I have gone into the main library on campus to find books, which by the way is impossible without using a computer simply because the library is so huge and the only way to find anything is by using the searchable database... but lo and behold maybe only 1/3 of the computers are being used by people who are doing research related stuff... the rest are being occupied by students playing online games or IMing their friends... this one guy, I swear is there all day, everyday (I know this because when I used to work there last year it became sort of a hobby of mine to check and see if he was there at any given time), brings his own headphones, and uses a station as his personal office/entertainment center... wtf, you people are at school, go home and do this crap on your own time, people who are actually here to use the library need access!

This btw, extends to other computing sites on campus, and has become the bane of my existence, I cannot count how many times I have just needed to print out a paper and had to wait up to 20 or more minutes because a good many of the computers were occupied by students gaming, chatting, or, I shit you not, watching Grey's Anatomy (am pretty sure thats not homework)... god people, do that crap at home!

I had to use the local library yesterday to print some docs from my email account. (need new printer ) The session has a timer giving members an hour. After the hour is up, so is your allotment for the day. Good idea.

Yeah, we started using PC reservation software earlier this year, our limit is 3 hours a day. What a clusterfuck at first, but now everyone seems to approve.