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Sylacauga, Alabama, known as the "Marble City," is built on top of a solid deposit of the hardest, whitest marble in the world. This city is the winner of thirteen national beautification awards, and is known for its world-class public library, which was recognized with a National Award for Library Service in 2000 by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. This award was one of four given in the nation for "extraordinary service to the community." The spectacular facility was built in the '70s with strong backing from the federal government and the city; then in 2003, the building was expanded to 39,000 square feet with funds raised by the library foundation and assistance from the city and county governments. From the day the library hired its first professional librarian in 1952, Comer Library has been at the forefront of service. They installed a fully automated catalog in 1996 to offer speedy and accurate access to the library's many holdings; in 1997 they installed a CD ROM information center, and in 1998, Internet access came to Comer Library thanks to a grant from the Gates Library Foundation. In 2000, the library's catalog became accessible online. The challenge: From the very beginning, a primary focus of Comer Library's mission was to plan for the future and be ready for growth and change. Part of that means addressing the changes that are brought about by the Internet, and positioning the library's services for the future. To best serve Sylacauga's citizens, Comer Library's staff realized that providing Internet access would have to be a high priority. In order to do so, and to maintain their CIPA funding, they would need to deploy a filtering solution. "During the school year, students would come to the library and try to access gaming sites, because the schools were blocking those sites," said Nelda Vogel, IT Administrator at Comer Library. But when all the library's PCs are being used by gamers, it made it difficult for other patrons to take advantage of the service. "We have several patrons that use our public PCs for job searches, and this has to take priority over providing a gaming platform." Vogel and her staff realized very quickly that the only way to continue providing Internet access to patrons conducting job searches, research, and other tasks, would be to block access to all gaming sites. "We need to give people access to what's most important, and protect everyone from time-consuming, inappropriate, or offensive content," said Vogel. The solution: After a brief investigation of the various Web filtering products on the market, Vogel discovered that many other school systems and public libraries throughout Alabama were already using Bess® filtering from Secure Computing® very successfully. "The product is very easy to use," she said. "When we talked to other libraries and schools about it, the response was terrific. We're very pleased." Comer Library deployed 50 user licenses; 40 on public PCs located throughout the library, and ten on staff PCs. "Setting up Bess on our network was very easy," she noted. "Administration on our part is very straightforward, and the day-to-day filtering operation doesn't require any interference from us. The librarians and front-line staff can easily handle almost everything that's needed." Because Bess Web filtering has one of the largest and most accurate filtering databases in the industry, Vogel seldom has to worry about bad sites slipping in through the cracks, or "false positives" where a good site gets blocked. "Bess has taken a lot of the workload off of our staff," said Vogel. "It maintains itself so well, we don't even have to generate reports." How it works: "We don't have to worry about our Internet access any more," said Vogel. "We can put a PC anywhere in the library, and not have to worry about where patrons are going on the Internet. There's no need to have a librarian or staff member watching over patrons or doing shoulder taps." Games and other inappropriate or offensive content is never a problem at the library since Bess has been deployed on every PC. "Without Bess, you always have to be on guard. Now, our librarians can free up their time for more important tasks." If a user or staff member does have a question about a blocked site, they can communicate with Vogel and her staff. She can investigate the site and if needed, any authorized staff member can unblock the site with just a few mouse clicks. "Blocking and unblocking is very simple." Comer Library has recently upgraded to SmartFilter®, Bess edition. Why Bess for B.B. Comer Memorial Library:
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