LibraryLaw Blog

Did the Hawaii State Library really ban a man for looking at at gayhawaii.com?

Update - See Sept 13 post for ACLU complaint
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Let's just hope that the facts reported by the Associated Press aren't completely accurate. It says that a Honolulu man was banned from the Hawaii State Library for a year for looking at gayhawaii.com, a site with information on events, travel etc. The ACLU has filed suit on his behalf on Tuesday. If anyone has more info, like the legal complaint, let me know.

ACLU challenges Hawaii law allowing ban on visiting public places

Weirdly Wrong thread: Stealing a library's Wifi

A couple of folks (Laura, Peter), have asked what I think about the Weirdly Wrong thread by Akma. Akma writes that a police officer told him to close his laptop and stop using the wifi signal emanating from the Nantucket athenaeum. Updates here and here. Says John Kerry visits Nantucket, so security is tight - that sounds plausible. Yet it still doesn't make sense. The officer cites no specific law, not to mention how he knew that the library's wifi was being used. Is it a hoax?

Library wins in federal court in patron-suspension case

Neil Farbstein, a library patron, was suspended from the Hicksville Public Library (NY) for two years, dating from an incident in 1996.

Farbstein sued the library, claiming employees "threw him out" and called police after he "complained to the desk clerk that it was improper of her to call him a [derogatory word for Jew]."

Farbstein represented himself and on June 24, the federal district court for the Eastern District of NY decided the case. The Court said he failed to make a proper legal claim. Farbstein's claims rested on anti-discrimination laws that did not apply to his situation -- such as laws forbidding discrimination based on race or disability.

The court granted Farbstein an opportunity to file an amended complaint with the Court by July 23, 2004.

NEIL FARBSTEIN v. HICKSVILLE PUBLIC LIBRARY (NY) CV 02-6438 (DRH) (MLO) UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK 2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11940 June 24, 2004, Decided

On writing comprehensive library policies regarding patron behavior...

by way of Karen Dyer (thanks, Karen!)

Date: Sat, 3 Jul 2004 09:56:02 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Jim Rubis"
To: publib
Subject: Re "Quoth the librarian"
Message-ID: Pine.GSO.4.10.10407030956000.29340-100000@sunsite3.berkeley.edu

Librarian to teenager who just completed a circuit of the (inside) of the library: "You can't skate in the library".

Skater: "There is no sign that says I can't skate!"

Librarian: "Do you see a sign that says 'no pissing on the floor!' "?

Skater left without further comment.

LibraryLaw.com

Cross referencing here like a good librarian -- if you clicked on a blog topic, you might find more or related info at LibraryLaw.com