South Carolina’s public library directors, confident they have the necessary votes in the state legislature locked up, plan to press ahead with efforts to see a library trespass bill adopted into law, even after a recent veto by Gov. Nikki Haley scuttled their hopes, at least temporarily.
The bill, which permits a misdemeanor trespassing charge against any library patron returning to the premises before a written warning to stay away expires, probably won’t be considered again until early 2015, but library officials, encouraged by how close they came to success this summer, told Library Journal they are eager to take up the cause again.
“That is planned. We feel this is a very important piece of legislation for public libraries in South Carolina,” Carl Coffin, president of the South Carolina Association of Public Library Administrators(SCAPLA), told LJ. “As far as the House and Senate are concerned, we have a broad range of support.”
Meeting last week in Columbia, SC, SCAPLA members agreed to continue lobbying for the trespass bill as a top legislative priority in 2015.