The Board of Trustees has established the following rules of conduct to protect the rights and safety of library patrons and staff and to preserve and protect the library's materials, equipment, and property. The Board is committed to providing all patrons a pleasant library environment and to enabling staff to give quality service.
When you use library services please:
- Expect to receive fair, courteous, and equitable treatment.
- Ask library staff for help; they are here to assist you.
- Request physical accommodation or assistance when needed to allow you full use of library services.
- Give us your suggestions about how we can improve our services, collections, and facilities and contact library staff with your concerns.
When you use the library we expect you to:
- Respect legally established policies and procedures for using library services.
Examples include but are not limited to: the Electronic Information Access Policy; Library Premises, Expression of Opinion On; and Meeting Rooms, Public Use of. Rules addressing food and drink in the library and use of skateboards on library property are at the discretion of the Community Librarian in charge of each unit.
- Be considerate of others.
- Respect the rights and privacy of other library patrons and staff.
- Be responsible for the selection choices of your own minor children.
- Be responsible for the safety, well being and conduct of children or other dependents in your charge. Young children must remain under the supervision of an adult or responsible family member at all times. Library staff cannot be responsible for children.
The following behaviors are prohibited:
- Engaging in or attempting to engage in any activity that would be a violation of any federal, state or local criminal statute or ordinance.
- Engaging in sexual activities.
Examples include but are not limited to: indecent exposure, masturbation, or extensive physical contact or touching that is offensive to others.
- Being under the influence of any controlled substance or intoxicating liquor.
- Possessing, selling, distributing or consuming any alcoholic beverage, except as a participant at a library event for which alcohol use has been pre-approved.
- Using library electronic resources to access, disseminate or print constitutionally unprotected speech or in violation of copyright laws or violating the Electronic Information Access Policy. Complying with this rule is the responsibility of the user, or in the case of minors, it is a joint responsibility of the user and the parent or guardian.
- Engaging in loud, disruptive, destructive, or unsafe activity or behavior that substantially interferes with others' use of the library, or with the ability of staff to perform their job duties.
Examples include but are not limited to: disruptive use of radios, CD players, cell phones, or other electronic devices; climbing, running or blocking aisles; placing personal belongings on or against buildings, furniture, equipment or fixtures in a way that interferes with the use of the facility; making loud noise, throwing things, pushing, shoving or spitting; misusing library property or misusing restrooms (including but not limited to bathing, shaving, or washing hair); and encroachment into staff work areas or unauthorized use of staff resources.
- Engaging in threatening or harassing behavior (including sexual harassment), or causing physical harm, in person or by any other communication method. Harassing behavior is deliberate and/or repeated behavior that is not welcome or creates a hostile environment on library premises or in communication (e.g. telephone, e-mail, fax, written) with staff or library patrons.
Examples include but are not limited to: brandishing a weapon, verbal or physical harassment, making threatening comments or gestures, stalking, constantly staring at or following another person, lewd behavior, showing pictures or other materials to persons without their permission, or using harassing, hostile or abusive language.
- Smoking or other use of tobacco in library buildings or within 25 feet of any entrance or open window, per RCW 70.160.
- Destroying, damaging, or defacing library facilities, materials, equipment or software, or using them in a manner likely to cause injury.
Examples include but are not limited to: damaging or disrupting a computing system, or altering its normal performance; adding, deleting, or modifying files, data and/or hardware belonging to the library or to other patrons; writing in or damaging library materials; tampering with or defacing any library property.
- Bringing animals, other than assistance animals, into the library, except as approved by authorized library staff.
- Refusing to comply with direction of a library staff member.
- Soliciting, petitioning or distributing written materials or canvassing for political, charitable or religious purposes inside a library building or in a manner on library premises that unreasonably interferes with or impedes access to the library.
- Using another person's library card for Internet access, or using more than one hour of Internet access per day.
- Viewing Internet pornography in the library.
- Interfering with others' use of library computers, such as monitoring what they are viewing or retrieving information from another user's computer screen.
- Making excessive numbers of printouts.
- Using the library as sleeping quarters.
- The presence of unsupervised or apparently unattended minor (under the age of 18 years) children anywhere on library premises if the child's safety, well-being, comfort or behavior may be an issue. Parents and guardians are held responsible for their minor children whenever the children are in library buildings or on library property.
- Entering library buildings with bare feet or bare chest, per RCW 27.12.290.
- Discomforting others due to offensive body odor, per RCW 27.12.290.
Consequences for violating library Rules of Conduct
- People who demonstrate unacceptable conduct will be asked to modify their behavior or asked to leave the building.
- Lack of cooperation may result in removal from the premises, and/or restriction of library privileges, and/or termination of telephone conversations.
- Violation of these rules of conduct may be cause for the library to deny permission to enter its facilities for a time specified by Library staff.
- In cases of threatening behavior or illegal activities, the police will be called.
- Anyone who violates rules 1-4 while in library premises may be immediately excluded from all FVRL premises without prior warning. Any person so excluded may lose all library privileges for up to life and the incident may be reported to the appropriate law enforcement agency.
- Violation of rules 5-16 will be given up to one warning at discretion of staff, and may be excluded for up to one year.
- Violation of rules 17-18 will result in up to two warnings at the discretion of staff, and violators may then be asked to leave for the day. Subsequent offenses may result in immediate ejection and exclusion from all FVRL premises and loss of all library privileges for up to six months.
- Violation of rules 19-20 will result in exclusion from all FVRL premises until the problem is corrected.
Rights of Appeal
All library staff are expected to apply library policy in a fair, reasonable and positive manner. Individual patrons who question the way that library policies have been applied may use the appeal process that is described in the library's Appeal Rights of Patrons document.
Authorization
FVRL Library Rules of Conduct shall be implemented by the Community Librarian in charge of each unit, or a designee.
Authority for this policy includes: RCW 27.12.210 (2); RCW 27.12.270; RCW 27.12.290; and RCW 27.12.330.
Board Approved: Original Policy 12/13/93
Revised: 06/12/00
Revised: 04/11/06
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