As mentioned in the Student Government Association (SGA) meeting on Oct. 3, there has been one instance of a Longwood student viewing explicit material on a Greenwood Library computer on Aug. 25 which resulted in calling the Longwood University Police Department (LUPD), according to Brent Roberts, dean of the library.
“In this particular case, there was a subject actually I think in that case a student had heard the video being played and realized what it was and said something to the (library) staff and then the staff called us (LUPD),” said LUPD Col. Bob Beach.
According to Beach, given that Longwood is a public institution and the library is a facility on Longwood’s campus, the first amendment makes the situation legal.
“On the one hand we believe in all of that the freedom to explore, on the other hand we are a public institution this is a public building this is a place where students, faculty, staff, community patrons, anybody can come to research and think and explore,” said Roberts.
“We then did work in the days that followed helping the library develop a policy on how they would handle that,” said Beach.
According to Roberts, with the library being a public facility, community patrons have occasionally visited and watched inappropriate materials in the library.
“There have been others but since I’ve been here just that one this fall that has resulted in calling LUPD,” said Roberts.
Both the library staff and LUPD monitor the library routinely via security cameras and usual walkthroughs, according to Beach.
“As we do our walk arounds that we do hourly if we see people engaging in appropriate activities or just doing things that just aren’t right then what we do, regardless of whether it’s a student or community person, then that’s when we contact our friends in LUPD,” said Roberts.
According to Beach, LUPD consults with the person who reported the disturbance to determine whether or not they want the activity to stop.
“If they say yes we need the person to stop, then we will go with them and they will tell the person to cease and desist and stop doing it and that’s usually how it ends,” said Beach.
The library does not block or filter websites on their computers, according to Roberts.
Longwood's Acceptable Use of Information Technology Resources and Systems policy states individuals' rights to be "free of intimidation, harassment and unwarranted annoyance."
“People have the right to not be harassed,” said Roberts. “So, while we protect people’s freedom to think and explore and view just about anything but it turns into a behavior that affects other people that’s when it's a problem."
With the extension of the library hours from midnight to 2 a.m. Sunday through Thursday, Roberts received feedback from students who were worried about the hours extension would encourage such activity.
According to Roberts, all of the incidents have occurred during the middle of the day not in the two additional hours.
“Now what needs to happen is that students become aware of such activity, realize that it’s not illegal but it could be disruptive and that is what is tied to the policy there and they should let the staff of the library know so it can be addressed they’re not expected to be put at a disadvantage of using the library because of someone else’s intent,” said Beach.
According to Beach, if a person decides to report such activity they need to inform the library staff in a timely manner to resolve the issue quickly.
“I also want to make sure that this is a high quality learning environment and that people’s research and study and intellectual engagement isn’t disrupted that it’s free from harassment,” said Roberts.
