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Danforth Library to combine exhibits into updated community-postings policy after board discussion
Summary
Library director proposed eliminating the separate exhibits policy and folding its rules into a single 'Community Postings and Exhibits' policy to streamline staff procedures and reduce risk from controversial displays; board asked for operational clarifications and will vote next month.
Jeff Collins, the Danforth Library director, told the board on Dec. 17 that staff recommends eliminating the library's separate exhibits policy and folding exhibit guidance into an updated "Community Postings and Exhibits" policy to simplify procedures and limit staff liability. Collins said exhibit requests are infrequent — roughly "once every three years" — and that consolidating policies would make approvals more straightforward for staff.
The recommendation aims to move the library away from treating display cases as part of a limited public forum that could legally require the library to provide equal access to all groups. Collins cited a hypothetical example in the memo — a request to display Nazi memorabilia — to explain the legal and reputational risks of maintaining the exhibits policy as a standalone limited public forum. He told the board the library would continue to collaborate with outside organizations and could use memoranda of understanding to host library-sponsored exhibits.
Board members asked practical questions about how the new policy would operate. A member pointed to section 2.1 and asked whether approvals would be handled by a designated staff member or by any staff at the customer service desk; Collins said the plan is to post a placard directing members of the public to the customer service desk and to have "library staff" (rather than a nominated supervisor) be the approving authority under the revised language. Another member asked whether brochure slots and bulletin-board locations exist at branch buildings; Collins confirmed several locations and said staff are relocating bulletin boards to more central locations as part of ongoing facility work.
Collins told the board the proposed change is intended to reduce staff burden and curtail the risk of being compelled to host controversial materials under the prior exhibits framework. He said any exhibit the library chooses to actively sponsor would be documented via an MOU and handled as a library-sponsored event rather than an open posting.
The board did not take a final vote on the policy at the Dec. 17 meeting; Collins said the item would return for formal action at the next monthly board meeting.
