Uploaded October 2021 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
In this video, we have Metro Detroit Audit going around video recording at Royal Oak public library; that content description reads:
Peacefully practising our 1st amendment at the Royal Oak public library-ensuring our public officials honour and respect that right, when I was confronted by staff to stop filming without permission from the library director. They feel the need to call the police as I was almost on my way out the door. So an education ensued.
Just to understand the legal point of view: in US, the law distinguishes between a traditional public forum, or public square, and facilities opened to the public for a particular use or purpose, like a library or a courthouse. Facilities like libraries and courthouses are considered to be limited public forums or non-public forums for purposes of the First Amendment. In limited or non-public forums, the government agency administering the space is only obligated to allow those First Amendment activities that are consistent with the nature of the forum, even if the facility is open to the public.
In Kreimer v. Board of Police of Morristown, NJ, an important court opinion addressing a library user’s right to enter and use the library, the court held that because public libraries are a limited public forum, constitutional protection is afforded only to those expressive activities that are consistent with the mission and purpose of the library. A public library is only obligated to permit the public to exercise rights that are consistent with the government’s intent in establishing the library as a limited public forum for the purpose of receiving information and accessing the library’s books, programs, and online resources.
Given the possible chilling effect on individuals’ library usage, the threat to the library user’s right to privacy, and potential threat of harassment posed by third-party photography or recording, it is reasonable for the library to regulate that behaviour in a manner that preserves the individual patron’s right to receive information free from harassment, intimidation, or threats to their safety, well-being, and privacy rights, using policies and procedures developed in accordance with the Intellectual Freedom Committee’s Guidelines for the Development of Policies and Procedures Regarding User Behaviour and Library Usage. Of course, the means of achieving this is determined by each library board, in light of the applicable local, state, and federal law and as appropriate to the library’s and the community’s needs and circumstances.
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Table of contents
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0:00 - Introduction
0:56 - Start of Auditor video
1:28 - Policy in UK
1:57 - Policy in US
5:07 - Library and First Amendment
7:26 - going against American Library Association's Library Bill of Rights
8:56 - I pay taxes
9:41 - I'm an independent journalist
12:07 - Cell phone prohibition doesn't matter
12:29 - Quote a law that i'm breaking
13:24 - There is no expectation of privacy in public
14:36 - I'm not going to answer that
15:48 - Pee in any corner
16:21 - I'm just doing my own thing
17:02 - Broken record
In this video, we have Metro Detroit Audit going around video recording at Royal Oak public library; that content description reads:
Peacefully practising our 1st amendment at the Royal Oak public library-ensuring our public officials honour and respect that right, when I was confronted by staff to stop filming without permission from the library director. They feel the need to call the police as I was almost on my way out the door. So an education ensued.
Just to understand the legal point of view: in US, the law distinguishes between a traditional public forum, or public square, and facilities opened to the public for a particular use or purpose, like a library or a courthouse. Facilities like libraries and courthouses are considered to be limited public forums or non-public forums for purposes of the First Amendment. In limited or non-public forums, the government agency administering the space is only obligated to allow those First Amendment activities that are consistent with the nature of the forum, even if the facility is open to the public.
In Kreimer v. Board of Police of Morristown, NJ, an important court opinion addressing a library user’s right to enter and use the library, the court held that because public libraries are a limited public forum, constitutional protection is afforded only to those expressive activities that are consistent with the mission and purpose of the library. A public library is only obligated to permit the public to exercise rights that are consistent with the government’s intent in establishing the library as a limited public forum for the purpose of receiving information and accessing the library’s books, programs, and online resources.
Given the possible chilling effect on individuals’ library usage, the threat to the library user’s right to privacy, and potential threat of harassment posed by third-party photography or recording, it is reasonable for the library to regulate that behaviour in a manner that preserves the individual patron’s right to receive information free from harassment, intimidation, or threats to their safety, well-being, and privacy rights, using policies and procedures developed in accordance with the Intellectual Freedom Committee’s Guidelines for the Development of Policies and Procedures Regarding User Behaviour and Library Usage. Of course, the means of achieving this is determined by each library board, in light of the applicable local, state, and federal law and as appropriate to the library’s and the community’s needs and circumstances.
=============================
Table of contents
=============================
0:00 - Introduction
0:56 - Start of Auditor video
1:28 - Policy in UK
1:57 - Policy in US
5:07 - Library and First Amendment
7:26 - going against American Library Association's Library Bill of Rights
8:56 - I pay taxes
9:41 - I'm an independent journalist
12:07 - Cell phone prohibition doesn't matter
12:29 - Quote a law that i'm breaking
13:24 - There is no expectation of privacy in public
14:36 - I'm not going to answer that
15:48 - Pee in any corner
16:21 - I'm just doing my own thing
17:02 - Broken record
