Libraries eyeing ‘free expression area’ policy.
The San Antonio Public Library, seeking to strike a balance between free expression and its core function of providing quiet places to read, study and check out materials, is considering a policy that would formally create a “free expression area” outside each of its 27 locations.
The system has had a policy since 2013 to have a designated expression zone at each branch. But the libraries have since seen increases in petition drives, people passing out literature and other activities protected by the First Amendment.
The library system's board of trustees met last week and delayed action on the issue until its April 28 meeting.
Jean Brady, the board's District 1 downtown-area representative, cautioned that designating a specific space for free expression can be controversial.
She mentioned a recent dustup involving the transfer of a designated “free speech zone” in Alamo Plaza that led to concerns that people were “not being able to speak freely at the Alamo.” A master plan for the Alamo would relocate the area designated for free speech from the center of the plaza, in the heart of the mission and 1836 battle site, to an area a few hundred feet south.
Although the Alamo plan is on hold, Brady said the controversy
created “a huge issue at the Alamo” that illustrates the challenges of trying to contain free expression to a defined location.
“I really think we need to give this a lot of thought, because libraries are places of freedom of expression,” she said.
Although the library system has scaled back to limited operations because of the pandemic, most locations are open for contactfree pickup and computers by appointment. The proposed policy could be in place whenever the libraries fully reopen.
Library officials didn’t attribute the proposal to a specific event but said a board-approved policy would give guidance to staff and help the system strike the right balance.
The library system would post the free-expression locations on its website, with branch managers providing “the first line that would carry this out,” Cheryl Sheehan, public services administrator with the library system, told trustees.
“This policy is a tool that balances the freedom of expression with the rights of patrons to access library buildings and library services without feeling impeded or harassed,” said Library Director Ramiro Salazar, who issued a 2013 memo that initiated the current policy.
The proposed policy prohibits behavior that impedes access for patrons to library entrances; noise that disrupts regular library operations or special events; and any communication that is “obscene, defamatory, incites violence or unlawful action, or consists of words or threats of physical harm.”
Assistant City Attorney Stephen Whitworth said the proposal is essentially an extension of the library’s patron code of conduct, attempting in “a rational way” to regulate behavior outside library buildings.
“Anytime you want to impose regulations on people’s liberty rights associated with access to the library, you would definitely want to have the highest power of the board weighing in,” Whitworth told trustees.
When libraries are used as polling sites, free speech activities could occur outside the free expression areas under the policy, as long as they comply with state law, which prohibits campaigning within 100 feet of a polling site.
Linda Nairn, the trustee representing District 10 on the Northeast Side, said branch locations in her district have little room to provide for First Amendment activity without affecting library patrons.
“And I know that when there were some people who were trying to get petitions signed last year, and some people at the library coming felt like they were having to go through a gauntlet to get to the library,” Nairn said.