photo by: Shawn Valverde

The lawn of the Lawrence Public Library is pictured Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023.

Depending on what action Lawrence leaders take in early November, the Lawrence Public Library may soon have more ability to address behavioral problems on the grassy lawn next to the building.

The Lawrence Public Library Board of Trustees took a step toward that goal on Monday, when it voted to approve a draft lease agreement with the City of Lawrence for the outdoor space at 707 Vermont St. The agreement would allow the library to lease the property for $1 a year for five years starting Dec. 1, and would also allow either the library or city to terminate or extend the lease with the proper notice. According to the draft agreement, the library board would need to initiate contact with the city 180 days prior to the termination of the lease in order to ascertain the city’s willingness to extend it.

As the Journal-World reported, the library has experienced an uptick in disruptive behavior outside the building since this summer. Executive Director Brad Allen, in a message to cardholders and partners in August, said curbing those issues was made more difficult by the fact that the City of Lawrence owns the land the library building sits on, plus the lawn and parking garage next door.

The library has been working with the city to find solutions to addressing those behavioral problems, acting library director Kathleen Morgan said in a memo to board members, and this lease agreement is intended to mitigate the issue of jurisdiction. Morgan is leading the library while Allen is away on a sabbatical.

“Our goal is to find a way to extend the library’s behavior policy to the library plaza so that our security team can better manage behavior problems on the entire library campus,” Morgan said in the memo.

photo by: City of Lawrence screenshot

The grassy lawn next door to the Lawrence Public Library at 707 Vermont St., which is owned by City of Lawrence, is highlighted here in red. Under a draft lease agreement with the city approved by the Lawrence Public Library Board of Trustees, the library would be able to manage behavior problems outside the library building.

The draft lease agreement still needs to be approved by the Lawrence City Commission, though, and that could happen at its Nov. 7 meeting. According to Morgan’s memo, library staff will be working to review and recommend updates to the library’s behavior policy and procedures in the meantime, so that they would encompass both indoor and outdoor areas.

Morgan said pending City Commission approval, staff would follow up with the library board at its Nov. 20 meeting and create a communication plan to inform library patrons about any new behavior rules.

Under the draft agreement’s terms, the city would continue to mow the lawn, maintain the lawn’s landscaping and irrigation system and provide snow removal services, plus continue to pay the utilities it’s currently paying for the lawn area. The library would be able to manage the property, including scheduling any events in the space it deems appropriate.

The agreement requires the library to provide liability insurance and workers’ compensation coverage for the space, and Morgan’s memo notes that the library’s current general liability policy meets the lease requirements. The draft agreement also says that the library board is responsible for “answering any emergency calls and after-normal-business-hours-calls” regarding the property.

“… This lease agreement came together thanks to a cooperative effort between the library and the city,” Morgan’s memo reads. “We want to thank city staff and leadership for their help. They have been very responsive and great to work with.”