Tobacco/Smoke Free Library Campus

1. POLICY
   Due to the acknowledged hazards arising from exposure to environmental tobacco smoke or secondhand smoke, it shall be the policy of Dayton Metro Library to provide a smoke free Library campus for all employees, visitors and patrons. Therefore, tobacco use and smoking is prohibited in all Library premises and while conducting Library related business. 

   This policy applies to anyone entering Library spaces including, but not limited to, all Library staff, interns, volunteers, visitors, patrons, vendors, contractors and consultants and/or their employees entering Library premises.

2. DEFINITIONS
   • Library premises - all property owned, occupied, regulated, or under the direct or indirect control of the Dayton Metro Library; which includes, but is not limited to, buildings, parking garages, parking lots, green space, pedestrian sidewalks, designated outdoor reading and similar use spaces, and vehicles owned and/or leased by the Library. This refers to Library owned properties, those leased to others, and properties leased to the Library in which the Library has a 100% ownership interest or an exclusive lease interest.
   • Smoking - the possession of a lighted cigarette, e-cigarette, cigar, pipe, water-pipe or hookah or any product consumed in a similar manner or intended to simulate smoking.
   • Tobacco - all forms of tobacco, including but not limited to, smokeless tobacco (e.g. chew, snuff), cigarettes, e-cigarettes, cigars, pipes, water-pipes, hookahs, and all other products used in all forms of smoking devices.
3. REGULATIONS
   Ohio Revised Code 3794 prohibits smoking in public places and places of employment to protect employees and the public from secondhand smoke.
4. PROCEDURES
   1. All materials used for smoking, including cigarette butts and matches, must be extinguished and disposed of in appropriate containers.
   2. Event organizers are responsible for communicating this policy to event attendees.
   3. Patrons will be informed of the no-smoking policy through signage.
   4. Unless there is an egregious act, Library enforcement of the Smoke Free Library Policy will result in a warning, providing information about the policy benefit to the community, and access to information about smoking cessation resources.
   5. Further non-compliance will be addressed by actions progressing into personnel actions or progressive discipline plans, up to and including banishment from Library property.
   6. Community members who encounter an individual who is violating the policy, but do not feel comfortable approaching the person in violation, should contact the Library manager or Library security.
   7. There will be no reprisal against anyone seeking assistance in enforcing this policy.

(Policy AD - Last reviewed/revised March 12, 2024)