<div dir="ltr">Ted, this matter was adjudicated back in the 1990s in Kreimer v. Bureau of Police in Morristown, NJ related to the rules of behavior of the Morristown Public Library. The courts held that libraries can, indeed have rules about offensive body odor. I would add that they should be applied even-handedly to the guy who smells like a latrine and the matron who is doused in too much perfume. There is a bit more <a href="http://www.librarylaw.com/Behaviorcases.html">info on the Kreimer case</a> on Mary Minnow's library law site, as well as other good info on the case law that applies to library behavior rules.<div><br></div><div>As you can imagine, we deal with this regularly at MCL. Our behavior rules say:</div><div><br></div><div><p style="margin:0.5em 0px;padding:0px;color:rgb(50,50,50);font-family:Lato,'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,Geneva,sans-serif;font-size:16px;line-height:22.3999996185303px;background-color:rgb(244,242,230)"><strong>Any person who violates rules 24 and 25 while in or on library premises will be excluded from the premises until the problem is corrected.</strong></p><p style="margin:0.5em 0px;padding:0px;color:rgb(50,50,50);font-family:Lato,'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,Geneva,sans-serif;font-size:16px;line-height:22.3999996185303px;background-color:rgb(244,242,230)">24. Entering library buildings with bare feet or a bare chest.</p><p style="margin:0.5em 0px;padding:0px;color:rgb(50,50,50);font-family:Lato,'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,Geneva,sans-serif;font-size:16px;line-height:22.3999996185303px;background-color:rgb(244,242,230)">25. Disturbing others because of offensive body odor.</p></div><div class="gmail_extra">Here at MCL we keep a handout ready that we can give patrons we have to exclude for this reason. It has information about free resources where they can bathe and get clean clothes. I don't know what you have available in Newport but if you have such resources it provides compassionate way to deal with this type of situation. That said, we occasionally have someone who can't or won't clean up, and in those cases you do not have to readmit them.</div><div class="gmail_extra"><br></div><div class="gmail_extra">Hang in there!</div><div class="gmail_extra">Cindy<br clear="all"><div><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><b>Cindy Gibbon</b><div>Access & Information Services Director</div><div>Multnomah County Library</div><div><i>Voice:</i> 503.988.5496</div><div><i>Fax:</i> 503.988.5441</div><div><a href="mailto:cindyg@multcolib.org" target="_blank">cindyg@multcolib.org</a></div><div><br></div></div></div></div>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Jan 5, 2015 at 2:05 PM, Ted Smith <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:t.smith@newportlibrary.org" target="_blank">t.smith@newportlibrary.org</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
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<p class="MsoNormal">Do any of you have a policy I can use that covers 1) horrible (to say the least) body odor and 2) the library as a fragrance free zone. Please don’t tell me we can’t ban/bar/exclude patrons from our libraries because of excessive body
odor (see attached link). I’m just wondering if any libraries have policies, or any cities have codified an ordinance that covers this issue. <u></u><u></u></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Are any of your libraries fragrance free? Policies? <u></u>
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<p class="MsoNormal">As a side note: I talked to this patron and he “solved” the problem by dousing himself with AXE cologne. I have one of the strongest stomachs known to mankind. This guy could gag a corpse. Patrons are complaining, staff are in a quandary
as to how to proceed. Yes, he has an apartment with a working shower – I know because I offered to purchase passes to our rec center so he could shower. He told me he didn’t need them. I’m open to ideas.
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<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2005/mar/05/local/me-smell5" target="_blank">http://articles.latimes.com/2005/mar/05/local/me-smell5</a><u></u><u></u></p>
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