Smoking banned on county public library property

The Monroe County Public Library has various rules of conduct: prohibiting the use of furniture for sleeping, prohibiting theft or mutilation of library materials and managing the noise level of headphones and music players.

Now, this list of rules includes smoking, which has been officially banned outside the library on Kirkwood Avenue.

Josh Wolf, manager of children’s services at the library, said the library Board of Trustees voted Wednesday to ban smoking on library property, a move in line with IU and the Monroe County Community School Corporation.

“What has changed about our current list of rules is that we updated to include the no smoking ban,” Wolf said. “It’s a very positive step.”

Wolf said one concern that led to the creation of the smoking ban was the homeless population that has congregated on library property.

Wolf said he hopes the ban will be a step toward changing other behaviors of all library patrons, because of the overall deterioration of ambiance at the library and outside the building.

He noted that feedback regarding the smoking ban from many Bloomington residents has been positive so far.

Wolf said much of the work done to create and enforce the smoking ban and work on
future campaigns will come from the newly formed Committee to Encourage Positive Patron Behavior, which Wolf helps manage.

“We have about 3,000 people in here every day,” Wolf said. “With this many people, we see things that are visibly negative. It’s been a problem for years.”

One plan Wolf said the committee is considering is to work on creating a quieter area for those who need to use the library for work.

More quiet zones are in the works, particularly on the second floor, while creating common areas somewhere else for patrons to migrate to.

“Now we’re focusing on the inside of the library,” Wolf said. “We want to remind people that this is a library. We wanted to eliminate the idea that a library is all ‘shush, shush’ but we’ve been too successful.”

Wolf said the Herman B Wells Library on the University’s campus, where students can migrate toward the louder common area but be quiet and respectful in the towers, is a great model.

“We have about 60 computers on the second floor,” Wolf said. “That’s an intense area. It’s louder than most areas. People are trying to find jobs and are paying taxes. It’s not managed as a quiet area, so we’re looking into that.”

Looking into the committee’s future, Wolf said it is planning to introduce a civility campaign, which will work to make the library a more respectful location overall.

Although it is not an overwhelming problem, Wolf said the committee is excited to be proactive about promoting civility and said he hopes it will have a ripple effect in the community.