Free Speech and Public Libraries

"Traditional public forums," such as street corners, town squares, and parks serve as venues for a wide range of expressive activities, such as pamphleteering, protest, and assembly. Expression in traditional public forums enjoys the maximum amount of protection from the government.

In contrast, libraries are "limited public forums" established by the government to promote a very specific interest: the public's right to receive information through reading, accessing the internet, and otherwise using library resources for their intended purposes. Expression that impairs library patrons' quiet enjoyment of those interests can be regulated under the First Amendment.

Thus, although libraries are obligated to allow expression that aligns with promoting their governmental interests, they are also permitted to regulate expression that impairs those interests, even if such expression would be protected were it disseminated in a traditional public forum.