The Huntington Beach, CA, council has approved fines for cell phone use in the library, ranging from $250 for the first offence after a warning to $1000 for the third.
Hmmm. I have two issues.
1) Does the library get the proceeds? They don't say. It might just go to the city coffers, whereas if it's an issue in the library environment, then the fines would go a long way to improving that environment.
2) Despite a knee-jerk response of 'yay! power!' I'm not sure how I'd feel as a librarian with 'policing' by having to issue citations. In my town, only peace officers, building inspectors, and health inspectors can do that, and that is a central part of their jobs, whereas a librarian's isn't so much confrontation as support and developing a rapport with patrons. I'll have to mull that over a bit more.
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