Newport Beach council approves new library rules
The City Council expanded the list of the Newport Beach public libraries’ prohibited behaviors this week.
People will have to lock their shopping carts and bikes up to bike racks and stop lounging on furniture under the new rules the council passed Tuesday.
The Newport Beach Public Library system has more than 1 million annual visitors for a city of about 85,000 people. With some of the most modern and expansive facilities in the region, the Central Library draws visitors of all stripes.
The new rules do not specifically call out the homeless, but transients often spend the entire day at the library and leave their belongings within view of the lobby.
No longer will the library allow “lying down on the furniture or propping feet on chairs, sofas or tables,” according to the new rules.
Patrons have complained about people hogging multiple seats, according to a staff report, and of bikes and shopping carts parked next to the main entrance.
Some of the bikes and carts damage the building’s granite walls and plants, the report says.
A council critic at Tuesday’s meeting pointed out that City Manager Dave Kiff, a triathlete, brings his road bike indoors when he attends meetings at the library.
“I take the Fifth,” Kiff said.
Twitter: @mreicher