Expansion Opponents Barred from
Campaigning on Library Grounds
Opponents of a proposed $8.5-million library renovation in Delmar, New York, have been barred from leafleting and gathering petition signatures on the library grounds.
The project would add a second floor to the Bethlehem Public Library and refurbish the building’s existing spaces, at an average annual cost of $60 per household for the next 20 years. Although a large display at the library’s exit touts the plan, when opponents started telling patrons that the project was unneeded and overpriced, the board voted to restrict their efforts, Albany TV channel 13 reported December 8.
Library Director Nancy Pieri said the library’s attorney believes that such a restriction of the public’s use of public property is legal. However, Louise Roback of the New York Civil Liberties Union told American Libraries that she doesn’t believe that the courts would consider the library’s interior to be a public forum, but the restrictions on the grounds raise constitutional concerns. Roback added that the wording of the new policy adopted by the board is “overbroad in a way that should concern librarians.”
A vote on the project will be held December 19.
Posted December 18, 2000.
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