Woonsocket Harris Public Library

The Woonsocket Harris Public Library has a number of computers for the public to use for email, searching the internet, word processing, and many other uses. The computers can be found in three locations in the library: the Children's Department, the Young Adult area, and the Reference Department. Some of the computers, which were given to the library through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, are available to use in Spanish upon request from the Reference Desk. There is also a computer that has JAWS software installed that acts as a screen reader for visually impaired patrons.

Per government regulations, all of the library's computers are filtered by a software called Websense. Patrons 18 and over may have this software disabled upon request. Computers in the Young Adult and Children's Departments are also filtered by CyberPatrol. Filters will not be removed for patrons in these areas of the library.

The Woonsocket Harris Public Library has a formal Internet Use Policy in place, but these are some of the guidelines to remember when using the public computers:

You need to sign in to use the computers.
You need a CLAN library card in good standing (fines under $5.00 and no lost materials on the card) in order to use the computers in the library. If you have fines over $5.00, you will need to pay enough to bring your fines below $5.00 before you will be given access to a computer. Lost materials need to be paid off completely before you may use a computer. Patron's time on the computers is now managed by the PC Cop software. If all of the computers are being used, patrons can now reserve the next available computer by going to the Print Release station and make the request.

You have up to one hour to use the computers.
Because of the number of people who wish to use the computers at the library, you are limited to one sign-in of an hour per day.

Beverages are not allowed in the Computer Labs.
Althougt the library allows beverages in other parts of the library, they are not allowed in the computer lab areas or in the local history area. Bottles and cans must remain sealed or unopened in these areas.

No Chat Rooms
There is no way to differentiate between "safe" and "unsafe" chat rooms in this type of setting, so the library has a strict "No Chat" policy to ensure the safety of our patrons.

No Viewing of Inappropriate Websites.
Viewing websites that are deemed inappropriate by library staff (such as pornographic, excessively violent, gambling, etc.) will not be tolerated. Library staff have the right to revoke computer privileges from patrons using the computers in an inappropriate manner.

No downloads to the hard drive of the public computers.
The public computers have software installed to keep our system files intact. This software prevents anything from being saved to the computer, but allows patrons to save materials to a floppy disk. We also do not allow patrons to bring in their own software programs to load onto the public computers.

Printouts are 25 cents per page.
If you bring your own paper, printing still costs 25 cents per page to cover the cost of ink. Patrons are allowed to bring in their own diskettes, however they can also be purchased at the Circulation Desk for $1.00. Patrons are responsible for paying for all of their individual printing. Printing is now managed by a software called PC Cop, which is installed on all of the computers for public use. After printing from their computer, patrons must now go to the Print Release station and pay before their documents are printed.

Computer Assistance
There is a monitor available for the public's questions at certain times during the week. Their schedule is posted in the Adult Computer Lab, and they are the person to see if you have a particular question or need one-on-one assistance. Depending upon staffing and library traffic, Reference staff are not always available to assist patrons in the computer lab.