FAQs

Bring your picture ID and a recent piece of mail to the library to sign up for a card. Minors will need to have a parent/guardian sign for their card.

Patrons may have five items checked out at a time. This includes up to three DVDs.

Most, but not all, items have a five-day grace period before a fine is implemented. After the fifth day, you will start to accrue overdue fees. These fees must be paid before you can check out more materials. Children and teens 17 and under can “Read Away” their fines at the library.

You will be required to pay for the item, plus a processing fee.

No. Your first library card is free. If you lose it you may need to pay a small fee to get a new one.

You can buy a replacement card for $1.00. Library staff will ask a few questions to ensure your identity.

This varies by material. Books can be borrowed for 2 weeks. New movies can be borrowed for 3 days; older movies check out for 7 days. E-books and audio e-books can be checked out for 2 to 3 weeks.

You must have a library card, and you must register with the access sites.

• ○ For Overdrive ebooks and the Across Colorado Digital Consortium, click here.

No.

The library does not and has never streamed porn, bought porn, or promoted porn at the library.

Since the public library serves people of all ages, some content IS inappropriate for some ages.

It is very unlikely. We engage several different types of filters to prevent this from happening. All public Internet computers are equipped with these filters. No electronic filter is perfect, but even when someone purposely tries to get around our filters, the system usually stops them.

Some books, magazines and articles offered by the library will have content, such as sexual content, that parents think is inappropriate for their child. This does not mean that the content is pornographic or obscene.

The mere presence of sexual content does not make an article pornographic or obscene. However, parents may not feel their child is old enough to understand the content, see a picture, or read the article. For example, an article about improving your sex life is appropriate for an adult, but not for kids. This article may not contain any pictures, and it may be dryly written text addressing a medical issue.

To meet the definition of “obscene” according to Colorado Law, the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that taken as a whole the material or performance appeals to the prurient interest in sex; lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value. Click here for a full description of the law.

The public library serves people ages 6 months to 100, so in general we rely on parents to monitor their children’s use of the library. Not only would it be impossible for us to completely separate material into as many as 15 to 20 categories, but only parents really understand what their children are ready for. However, we do make an effort to assist parents.

Online, we have resources on children and teen tabs to make it easier for kids and parents to find what they are looking for. Each of these tabs contain helpful information for parents.

Some of our databases are also separated by age groups and are filtered so that some keywords are ignored.

People with an adult card will get uncensored access even when logging in to a childrens database, so be sure to log in with a child’s card if you do not want uncensored access.

Yes.

Yes. In fact, our library has even stricter community standards than the state law requires.

Yes. Our library has much stricter community standards than the federal law.

When concerned citizens asked us about age-inappropriate materials in our database, we developed an ongoing method for review and curation to ensure that the content included in our databases for kids are appropriate.

We make an effort to curate by age appropriateness.

We have a review process so that if the appropriateness of a material is challenged, we can fairly examine the material and make decisions based on what is best for the community. This process is not based on one person’s opinion — it allows for appeal.

When people sign up for a library card, they give a birth date. That birth date is used to determine whether a person is 16 and under or an adult.

The child’s card for 16 and under will not allow access to uncensored databases. The child must use the middle school or primary explora access point. During the year in which the child turns 17, this access will change to adult access.

People with an adult card will get uncensored access even when logging in to a middle or primary explora database access point, so be sure to log in with a child’s card if you do not want uncensored access.

In the library, materials for children and teens are kept in areas separate from materials for adults. For our online materials, we have library cards that enable access to some databases that depend on a child’s birthdate. None of these is a substitute for parent involvement.

If we see a child attempting to access age-inappropriate material, we speak to the child and, if warranted in the opinion of staff, will call the parent or guardian of a child. Click here for our policies on unattended children.

Databases are collections of information ranging from demographics data, to magazine and journal articles, to full-text books. They are easily searchable and often available from home with your library card.

Yes. We filter and curate our database collections, making the material more reliable and less likely to contain inappropriate material.

Yes. We use several levels of filtering for the databases offered by the library.

• ○ The databases are divided into multiple age levels by Ebsco. We offer Primary, Middle and Uncensored levels. For example, AP videos of news events are not allowed in the primary database, but curated videos are allowed in the Middle collection and none are removed from the Uncensored databases.
• ○ Ebsco has a search term filter, which bounces a user right back to the original search page with no results if the user uses a search term that is on a curated list.
• ○ We employ a filter on computers at the library to ensure that no one can link out of the databases and onto inappropriate sites on the unfiltered web or Google.
• ○ We filter access to the databases by requiring a log in with a library card. Children cannot log in to uncensored databases that may have age inappropriate content.

We use several levels of filtering for the databases offered by the library.

• ○ The databases are divided into multiple age levels by Ebsco. We offer Primary, Middle and Uncensored levels. For example, AP videos of news events are not allowed in the primary database, but curated videos are allowed in the Middle collection and none are removed from the Uncensored databases.
• ○ Ebsco has a search term filter, which bounces a user right back to the original search page with no results if the user uses a search term that is on a curated list.
• ○ We employ a filter on computers at the library to ensure that no one can link out of the databases and onto inappropriate sites on the unfiltered web or Google.
• ○ We filter access to the databases by requiring a log in with a library card. Children cannot log in to uncensored databases that may have age inappropriate content.

A curated database is a collection of digital information that is created and updated with a great deal of human effort.

If your home computer does not have a filter, it is possible to click on a link embedded in an article in the database and go to Google, which is not filtered and may have age-inappropriate or obscene material. This information is on the Internet, not the database, but prudent parents will avoid this possibility with a filter.

EBSCO is the leading provider of research databases, e-journals, magazine subscriptions, e-books and discovery service to libraries of all kinds. The Library has a subscription to Ebsco, which gives our customers access to information ranging from how to repair an automobile to the latest health information.

Yes. Ebsco is filtered by the library in several ways.

• ○ The databases are divided into multiple age levels by Ebsco. We offer Primary, Middle and Uncensored levels. For example, AP videos of news events are not allowed in the primary database, but curated videos are allowed in the Middle collection and none are removed from the Uncensored databases.
• ○ Ebsco has a search term filter, which bounces a user right back to the original search page with no results if the user uses a search term that is on a curated list.
• ○ We employ a filter on computers at the Library to ensure that no one can link out of the databases and onto inappropriate sites on the unfiltered web or Google.
• ○ We filter access to the databases by requiring a log in with a library card. Children cannot log in to uncensored databases that may have age inappropriate content.

The Ebsco databases contain information from thousands of periodicals and videos of news events. Some of those are deemed inappropriate for younger children. The child databases are curated based on community standards and using collection development techniques.

Because we are a public library, we serve all ages, so even with curation some material may not be appropriate for your child. For this reason, we encourage parents to take an active role.

If you are using a card associated with a birthdate that says you are an adult, you can access all data regardless of which Explora you use to access the Ebsco databases. We do not filter information that is meant for adults.

If you are using a card associated with a birthdate that says you are a child, the birthdate may be wrong in our system or a “cookie” on your browser may be giving access through an adult card you used to login with previously.

We may have missed something. Please let us know if you find something you feel should be restricted from the filtered databases.

The library filters its Internet access. If you do not filter your Internet at home, or your settings are different from the library’s, you could go to a site that you cannot get to at the Library. The database content is the same at home and at the library, depending upon whether you have a birthdate that designates you as a child.

A cookie is a small amount of data generated by a website and saved by your web browser. Cookies are used to store user preferences for a specific site, store log in information, and identify things that you like. For more information about “cookies”, click here.

A “link” is a simple way of navigating between pages on the web. It allows you to jump to a new location just by clicking on it.

Many articles within a database have citations, and some of these citations include web pages with links. If your computer is not filtered, it is possible to click on a link and go to a web page that may not be age appropriate.

If the item is in a curated library database, please let us know so that we can look at it and make a determination as to whether it should be in the curated database.

However, if you got to the information by clicking on a link that takes you outside the database, or if you are on the Internet and no longer in our database, you should check your browser and filter settings.

If you use a card with a birthdate indicating you are 16 and under and feel that you are getting access to uncensored databases, please call the library to check that the card has the proper birthdate associated with it.

No. Not if the birthdate associated with the card is for a person 16 and under.

However, if you also use an adult card to get access to uncensored databases, make sure your browser deletes the login cookie so that you are not inadvertently logging in with the wrong card.

In general, we will NOT honor requests to add information to our website. Vendors may send information about their site or product, but we receive too many requests to answer each one. The Lamar Public Library endeavors to use nonbiased information that has been curated by librarians as much as possible. We get many requests from people to add “information sites,” but we very rarely add them. We do appreciate feedback from the general public, however, and will consider suggestions to improve the site.

You can file a formal Request for Reconsideration form detailing what the item is, where it is, and how you got there.

You can informally send an email to the library director, who will take a look at it during the next monthly review of the databases.

Parents may sign a permission slip granting full access to the uncensored databases. It may take up to a month for full access to be enabled. This permission may be revoked upon written request of the parent.

We can remove your child’s card number from the system that enables access to the Ebsco databases. This will not affect your child’s ability to access other databases (such as ebooks) offered by the library.

You can use your browser or filter at home to block access to our web page that lists databases.

You can remove access to the library card from the child.