Library Warns Elmhurst Group It Would Call Cops

ELMHURST, IL – Elmhurst Public Library officials earlier this month warned circulators of the "Right to Parent" petition to stop their efforts inside the library or police would be called.

An Elmhurst alderman cheered the library's move. And the library board this week clarified its policy on petitions.

Across Illinois, the petition's supporters are gathering signatures to get an advisory question on the November ballot.

It calls for written consent from a minor's parent or guardian for such things as non-emergency medical procedures, medications, pharmaceuticals, gender modification procedures, and gender identification counseling or therapy.

In an email to Patch, one of the petitioners, Elmhurst resident Melissa Lameka, said the board's president, Marsha Baker, and library staff "engaged in a concerted effort to limit and obstruct our civil liberties to practice our constitutionally protected First Amendment rights to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

On March 2, the petitioners reserved a room at the library to seek signatures for the petition and advertised the effort on social media.

Library officials found out about it and told them they had to go outside the building to collect signatures.

In an interview, Mary Beth Harper, the library's director, said the staff applies the policy across all groups that reserve meeting rooms.

"We have lots of people who are asking for signatures outside the library," she said. "We're trying to maintain an environment that's pleasant for all."

She said the staff asked the petitioners to take their signature-gathering efforts outside, but she said they did not for a time. She said the library warned them that the police would be called. The group later moved the signature gathering outside.

The meeting rooms are on the first floor, separate from much of the library. It's possible for signature-gathering to take place in one of the rooms without most library patrons realizing it.

At Wednesday's library board meeting, members amended its policy. The existing policy says no group or individual is permitted to circulate or solicit signatures from patrons or staff within the library.

The board decided to add that signature-gathering is allowed outside the building, but must be at least 25 feet from the entrance. It said such efforts must not disrupt library operations or impede people from entering or leaving the library.

Through a public records request, the petitioners got emails from Baker, the board's president, and Alderman Guido Nardini about the petition.

A day before the petition effort, someone messaged the library about a social media post advertising the library event. Officials said they would make sure no petition signing took place.

Shortly after the March 2 situation, Alderman Guido Nardini emailed Harper, the library's director, that he had heard a "happy-go-lucky band of petition signature solicitors" were asked to leave the library. He said his response was "hear, hear."

"If this is the case, thank you very much for coming to the defense of Elmhurst's honor," Nardini said.

In an email to Patch on Wednesday, Nardini called the library a local "crown jewel." He said his job on the City Council is to make sure the gas company is careful when it digs up parkways and that the police get the specific body cameras they want.

"I support any petition drive; this is America," Nardini said. "I just wonder why they didn’t go where the people were, like the Metra station."

He said he emailed Harper as a neighbor "to thank her for keeping our library apolitical and to stand up for her staff, to make sure they didn’t get bullied. They didn’t sign up for this. Their job is to help people find books."

Baker, a mayoral appointee who has been on the board for more than a decade, has been outspoken on local school issues such as whether to include the novel "American Street" as required reading in classes. Baker and Lameka have taken opposite sides – Baker for, Lameka against.

In her email to Patch, Lameka took notice of Baker's involvement in the petition issue.

"Marsha Baker's efforts, to use her position of power, to limit our First Amendment rights to raise awareness of the state's attack on parents' rights is troubling and should be grounds for removal from her appointed position as Elmhurst Public Library Board President," Lameka said.

She added, "It should also be noted that a sitting alderman, Guido Nardini, was cheerleading the effort to suppress his constituents' First Amendment rights to petition."

In a statement, Baker said the petition-signing policy was adopted in 1997. The library, she said, is considered a "limited public forum." That means that while it is a public institution, limitations are placed on activities so that the library can ensure its space serves its main function, she said.

Baker said the patron who booked the meeting room was told about the policy and agreed to comply at first.

"When staff checked in with the occupants of the meeting room, they refused to go outside and said they would be contacting their lawyer," said Baker, who has been on the library board for more than a decade. "After a half an hour of further explanation about the policy, the group moved outside to request signatures."

In an interview, Lameka said she was the patron who requested the room and was never informed of the policy until the following day.

"After sharing the library rules with our lawyer, we were advised by our lawyer that because we were in a private room, we were not soliciting patrons," Lameka said.