DIXFIELD – Ludden Memorial Library computers available for public use are to remain unfiltered.

But, as selectmen learned Monday night, the right to remain uncensored comes with a price: $25 a month.

Librarian Peggy Malley said the library’s Board of Trustees voted unanimously against filtering the computers as required to continue getting free Internet access.

“Filtering goes against libraries, in general. It’s censorship,” Malley said.

Until now, she said, the library had been getting free Internet access because of its membership with the Maine School and Library Network.

But, in December 2000, the federal Children’s Internet Protection Act was signed into law. It required libraries seeking federal grants to use blocking software and pornography filters on public computers.

This was modified by the U.S. Supreme Court last June, allowing library users age 17 and older to have unfiltered Internet access. Access by children, however, remained restricted under federal law.

Libraries that had determined that they couldn’t meet the federal funding conditions without substantially compromising their standards or missions caught a break from the Maine Legislature.

On the last day of the legislative session in April, Malley said LD 1919, a supplemental appropriations and allocations bill, was passed. It directed the Public Utilities Commission to mitigate the impact of lost federal funding for these libraries.

Based on the bill’s passage, the Maine Telecommunications Education Access Fund Board is recommending to the commission that libraries choosing the unfiltered library option be charged only $25 a month rather than the $84 originally proposed.

If funds become available during the year, possibly the entire cost of Internet service could be reimbursed.

Malley said Maine libraries have until Monday, June 28, to decide whether or not to filter.

Schools using the network are filtered. That’s one reason why Malley said the library didn’t want to filter its computers.

“The filtering software filters out a lot of the good information with the bad. For example, if students want to look up information on breast cancer, a filter keys on the word breast,’ and will not allow you to get into anything at all,” she added.

[email protected]