The Austin Library Commission is looking into eliminating overdue fees for all materials in the city’s public library system. The Austin Public Library stopped charging fees on overdue materials checked out for kids in 2018. Now the commission has created a three-person working group to analyze the feasibility of a completely fine-free system. Penalties for […]
Library Commission
The Library Commission advises the Austin City Council on all matters regarding public libraries.
Posted inAustin
Tense meeting over arrest at library
The Library Commission heard impassioned testimony Monday night over the arrest last month of a 13-year-old girl at the Austin Public Library’s Carver branch. Activists showed up to the meeting at the Terrazas branch on Cesar Chavez Street to urge the library system to adopt new policies aimed at avoiding police calls while Library Director […]
Posted inCity Hall
Libraries plan to designate areas for petitioning
After a month of consultations with the Law Department over the language of the rules governing petitioning on library property, the Austin Public Library may have found a compromise. Instead of limiting petitioning to sidewalks surrounding the libraries, which groups have said restricts their access to library customers, the department is suggesting designating a location […]
Posted inCity Hall
Will petitions be allowed on library property?
Since 2018 began, two individuals with IndyAustin who were gathering signatures for a CodeNEXT petition outside of Austin public libraries have been cited with criminal trespass warnings. Those citations have been rescinded as the city works to clarify their position on the matter. In response to the first citation, on Feb. 19, attorneys Bill Aleshire, Bill Bunch […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Good vibes
Worth getting up for… Sometimes in the course of covering events for the Austin Monitor there are moments when it seems like things are going to go off the rails. It happens pretty frequently during the public comment portion of a meeting – we still love you heavy metal egg lady! – when a citizen […]