Guidelines for the Development of Policies and
Procedures Regarding User Behavior and Library Usage
Libraries are faced with problems of user behavior that must be
addressed to insure the effective delivery of service and full access to
facilities. Library governing bodies must approach the regulation of
user behavior within the framework of the ALA Code of Professional
Ethics, the Library
Bill of Rights and the law, including local and state statutes,
constitutional standards under the First and Fourteenth Amendments, due
process and equal treatment under the law.
Publicly supported library service is based upon the First Amendment
right of free expression. Publicly supported libraries are recognized as
limited public forums for access to information. At least one federal
court of appeals has recognized a First Amendment right to receive
information in a public library. Library policies and procedures that
could impinge upon such rights are subject to a higher standard of
review than may be required in the policies of other public services and
facilities.
There is a significant government interest in maintaining a library
environment that is conducive to all users' exercise of their
constitutionally protected right to receive information. This
significant interest authorizes publicly supported libraries to maintain
a safe and healthy environment in which library users and staff can be
free from harassment, intimidation, and threats to their safety and
well-being. Libraries should provide appropriate safeguards against such
behavior and enforce policies and procedures addressing that behavior
when it occurs.
In order to protect all library users' right of access to library
facilities, to ensure the safety of users and staff, and to protect
library resources and facilities from damage, the library's governing
authority may impose reasonable restrictions on the time, place, or
manner of library access.
Guidelines
The American Library Association's Intellectual Freedom Committee
recommends that publicly supported libraries use the following
guidelines, based upon constitutional principles, to develop policies
and procedures governing the use of library facilities:
Libraries are advised to rely upon existing legislation and law
enforcement mechanisms as the primary means of controlling behavior
that involves public safety, criminal behavior, or other issues
covered by existing local, state, or federal statutes. In many
instances, this legal framework may be sufficient to provide the
library with the necessary tools to maintain order.
If the library's governing body chooses to write its own policies
and procedures regarding user behavior or access to library
facilities, services, and resources, the policies should cite
statutes or ordinances upon which the authority to make those
policies is based.
Library policies and procedures governing the use of library
facilities should be carefully examined to insure that they are not
in violation of the Library Bill of Rights.
Reasonable and narrowly drawn policies and procedures designed to
prohibit interference with use of the facilities and services by
others, or to prohibit activities inconsistent with achievement of
substantial library objectives, are acceptable.
Such policies and the attendant implementing procedures should be
reviewed regularly by the library's legal counsel for compliance
with federal and state constitutional requirements, federal and
state civil rights legislation, all other applicable federal and
state legislation, and applicable case law.
Every effort should be made to respond to potentially difficult
circumstances of user behavior in a timely, direct, and open manner.
Common sense, reason and sensitivity should be used to resolve
issues in a constructive and positive manner without escalation.
Libraries should develop an ongoing staff training program based
upon their user behavior policy. This program should include
training to develop empathy and understanding of the social and
economic problems of some library users.
Policies and regulations that impose restrictions on library
access:
should apply only to those activities that materially
interfere with the public's right of access to library
facilities, the safety of users and staff, and the protection of
library resources and facilities;
should narrowly tailor prohibitions or restrictions so that
they are not more restrictive than needed to serve their
objectives;
should attempt to balance competing interests and avoid
favoring the majority at the expense of individual rights, or
allowing individual users' rights to supersede those of the
majority of library users;
should be based upon actual behavior and not upon arbitrary
distinctions between individuals or classes of individuals.
Policies should not target specific users or groups of users
based upon an assumption or expectation that such users might
engage in behaviors that could disrupt library service;
should not restrict access to the library by persons who
merely inspire the anger or annoyance of others. Policies based
upon appearance or behavior that is merely annoying or which
merely generates negative subjective reactions from others, do
not meet the necessary standard unless the behavior would
interfere with access by an objectively reasonable person to
library facilities and services. Such policies should employ a
reasonable, objective standard based on the behavior itself;
must provide a clear description of the behavior that is
prohibited so that a reasonably intelligent person will have
fair warning and must be continuously and clearly communicated
in an effective manner to all library users;
to the extent possible, should not leave those affected
without adequate alternative means of access to information in
the library;
must be enforced evenhandedly, and not in a manner intended to
benefit or disfavor any person or group in an arbitrary or
capricious manner.
The user behaviors addressed in these Guidelines are the result of a
wide variety of individual and societal conditions. Libraries should
take advantage of the expertise of local social service agencies,
advocacy groups, mental health professionals, law enforcement officials,
and other community resources to develop community strategies for
addressing the needs of a diverse population.
Adopted by the Intellectual Freedom Committee
January 24, 1993
