OK, Now the Library Will Allow Closed Meetings

-- Library Journal, 04/05/2007

In the aftermath of a controversy that began in February, when an immigrant rights groups barred critics from a meeting held at the Longmont Public Library, CO, the city has decided to no longer require that all meetings at the library be open to the public. The announcement came in a letter to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which had requested a clarification of the rules, according to the Longmont Times-Call.  The city's letter suggested that they could not force a group to open their meetings, because it might affect that group's right to "expressive association"—that is, to join likeminded others. As precedent, the city cited the U.S. Supreme Court's decision allowing the Boy Scouts of America to bar a gay Scoutmaster.  

The ACLU did not oppose the policy change but still criticized the immigration group's tactics, according to the newspaper. The American Library Association's interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights regarding meeting rooms also allows for a closed-door policy. It states, "Written policies may include limitations on frequency of use, and whether or not meetings held in library meeting rooms must be open to the public. If state and local laws permit private as well as public sessions of meetings in libraries, libraries may choose to offer both options. The same standard should be applicable to all."