New Anchorage Library Policy
to Allow Outside Exhibits
The advisory board for the Z. J. Loussac Public Library in Anchorage, Alaska, endorsed a new policy July 31 that prevents the city from excluding displays considered “promotional” and allows exhibits prepared by groups outside the library. The new policy was drafted as a result of a lawsuit brought against the city by the Alaska Civil Liberties Union on behalf of a gay-pride exhibit that had been removed from the library on the order of Mayor George Wuerch June 5.
Board chair Deirdre Ford said in the August 1 Anchorage Daily News that the policy is tighter than the previous one and requires outside exhibitors to describe their displays in detail. The board decided the city should not retain a ban on “promotional” exhibits contained in the old policy because the term is too ambiguous; a prohibition against commercial and personal exhibits would cover the same ground, Ford said.
The News reported that Wuerch would consider the board’s recommendation closely. The mayor had earlier suggested banning all outside exhibits from the library and placing them on the building’s first floor near the Anchorage Assembly chambers.
Posted August 6, 2001.
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