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Internet terminals at Dallas public libraries are in plain sight of young patrons.

DALLAS — While some folks are checking out books at the Dallas Public libraries, a large number of others are checking out porn.

It happens daily at the largest municipal library in North Texas, the Dallas Central branch. It also happens at the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library and more than two dozen other Dallas libraries, all of which have unfiltered access to the Internet by design.

Public placement of computer screens doesn't appear to deter some from finding exactly what they're looking for—and it's not in the card catalog.

"Porn in a public place—that doesn't make sense to me," said Israel Fierro, a library patron and father or four.

However, apparently it does for some.

An analysis by The Dallas Morning News suggests tens of thousands of pornographic images pop up on Internet workstations every day at Dallas' 26 branch libraries.

On December 19, in just a 45-minute span, computer users at the Central branch visited about 69,000 Web sites, which included more than 5,000 sites that were judged to be pornographic in nature. The sites included full nudity and sexual acts.

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Porn on library computers "doesn't make sense" to Israel Fierro.

While it's not against the law, it is against library policies. There's a pop-up warning when users log in. Librarians walked 36 people out the door last year for repeated violations.

"I started my career with the city as a librarian," said Mary Suhm, the Dallas city manager.

Suhm said she has joined the mayor and city council members reacting with deep concern to the situation.

Unlike some surrounding cities, and nearly every school district, Dallas does not filter Web site access at libraries.

"Filtering does not work as well as everybody would like to imagine it would," Suhm said.

For example, a Google search for "breast" and "breast cancer" might block all results.

Fierro said he is already worried about what his eldest child might see on the unrestricted terminals.

"I would be real concerned if my kids come to the library, pass by and see somebody looking at porn," he said. "It could be a pedophile looking at the stuff."

The American Library Association is against filters, but some at Dallas City Hall are now calling for them.

E-mail bhawkins@wfaa.com