Lakeville trustees review revised Computer and Internet Use policy; staff assistance with personal devices questioned

At the March 26 meeting, the Town of Lakeville Library Board of Trustees reviewed a revised Computer and Internet Use policy that consolidates prior Wi‑Fi rules into the main policy and debated language limiting staff assistance with patrons' personal devices.

Director Jennifer Jones explained she combined the separate Wi‑Fi policy into the Computer and Internet Use policy and circulated both a redlined and a clean version for trustees to review. The board did not vote; the revised policy is slated for a future meeting.

Trustees focused on one provision copied from the prior policy: libraries cannot accept liability for handling patrons' equipment and are therefore limited in providing technical assistance. Nancy Lovebabe and other trustees discussed practical examples — charging phones, typing passwords, or entering credit-card numbers — and sought wording that preserves patron service while protecting staff from liability.

Jones said the policy retains the liability language but that staff commonly provide limited assistance at the desk (for example, helping a patron operate a device while the patron retains control). Trustees asked for clearer wording that confirms staff are not liable if they touch a device only while the patron is present and that staff will not handle credit-card numbers, passwords or other sensitive inputs.

Trustees agreed to refine the language to make explicit what staff may and may not do and to return the revised policy for a formal vote at the next meeting. No formal motion was taken on policy text during the March 26 meeting.