The Lawrence Public Library has rolled out new rules for its campus and lawn — including banning smoking, vaping and verbal harassment — and prescribed consequences for breaking them. Repeated instances of such behavior could now get a patron suspended for a period of a week to six months, under the library’s new code of conduct. Violent or threatening behavior may result in longer or indefinite suspensions. The library has received numerous complaints from patrons about safety issues in and around the library. Library administrators pledged to improve public safety in the library, but the lawn and parking garage are owned by the City of Lawrence. That has limited staff members’ ability to address issues that may arise: for instance, the library can eject or ban people, but those people could still hang out outside. The Lawrence City Commission on Tuesday approved an agreement to lease the library plaza, the yard directly south of the library building, to the library for $1 per year for five years. With the new lease agreement, the library can extend its behavior policies to the whole campus, which includes “the library itself, the Library Plaza, Reader’s Garden, and green spaces surrounding the library on Vermont, Kentucky, and 7th Streets up to the public sidewalk,” according to the library’s website.
Source: The Lawrence Times
