Full opinion text
OPINION OF THE COURT GREENBERG, Circuit Judge. This case compels us to resolve questions concerning the breadth of a public library’s authority to promulgate and enforce regulations governing the use of its facilities. The appellee, Richard R. Kreimer, is a homeless man who resides in various outdoor public spaces in Morristown, New Jersey. Kreimer, who was a frequent patron of the Joint Free Public Library of Morris-town and Morris Township (“the Library”), was expelled from the Library on at least five occasions for violating its rules governing patron conduct. In response, Kreimer commenced this action in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey against the Library and others, alleging in his complaint, as ultimately amended, that the rules are facially invalid under the First Amendment, made applicable to the states by the Fourteenth Amendment, as well as under the due process and equal protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment, and similar provisions of the New Jersey Constitution. On cross-motions for summary judgment, the district court accepted Kreimer’s arguments and issued an interlocutory injunction prohibiting the enforcement of several of the Library’s rules. Kreimer v. Bureau of Police for the Town of Morristown, 765 F.Supp. 181 (D.N.J.1991). The Library appeals. The district court’s opinion unduly restricts the Library’s authority to circumscribe admission to and expulsion from its facility and gives short shrift to its significant interest in achieving the optimum and safest use of its facilities. Indeed, we find that the rules are reasonable “manner” restrictions on the patrons’ constitutional right to receive information. We also disagree with the district court’s analysis and application of the doctrines of vagueness and overbreadth and further find fault with the court’s determination that the Library intended to restrict Kreimer’s access to it in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. In sum, we are satisfied that the rules in issue pass muster under well-established constitutional principles governing facial attacks. Accordingly, we will reverse. I. BACKGROUND The facts of this case as germane on this facial challenge are essentially undisputed. Pursuant to N.J.Stat.Ann. § 40:54-29.3 (West 1991), Morristown and Morris Township elected to establish and support the Library. Although N.J.Stat.Ann. § 40:54-9 (West 1991) empowers the Board of Trustees of the Library (“the Board”) to enact regulations designed to “carry out the purposes of the joint library,” the Board did not promulgate any written rules or regulations governing the use of the Library until May 1989. As stated by the Library’s former director, Barbara A. Rice, prior to May 1989, the Library staff followed unwritten rules and procedures with the intent: to allow library patrons to use the library’s facilities to the maximum extent possible. The library staff ... as trained professional librarians, understood from ... professional training ... experience, and ... common sense that anyone exhibiting behavior which interfered with another patron’s reasonable use of library facilities, or who interfered with the work of the library staff, should be asked to stop. App. at 89. Kreimer frequently visited the Library where he claims to have enjoyed reading newspapers, magazines or books, or occasionally sitting in silent contemplation. In the Library’s view, however, Kreimer’s presence was not so peaceful. The Library contends that he often exhibited offensive and disruptive behavior, including staring at and following patrons and talking loudly to himself and others. It also claims that Kreimer’s odor was often so offensive that it prevented the Library patrons from using certain areas of the Library and prohibited Library employees from performing their jobs. Rice, the Director of the Library from June 1, 1986, to December 19, 1990, held monthly staff meetings to discuss how to handle more effectively what she termed “problem behavior” at the Library. This behavior included theft of property, smoking, use of drugs and alcohol, disruptively loud behavior, intimidation of patrons through staring and following them, and exuding of repulsive odors. In 1987, Rice determined that the Library should maintain written records of recurrent problem behavior. Accordingly, it began to keep a logbook detailing the disciplinary problems reported to or observed by the Library staff or patrons. As the Library’s brief notes, the logbook reflects that “[b]oth before and after adoption of the written Patron Policy, the Library has been plagued by incidents involving inappropriate conduct on the part of some library patrons.” Most of the entries excerpted by the Library in its brief describe Kreimer’s alleged behavior: “1/14/89 — Kreimer’s odor prevents staff member from completing copying task; 3/30/89 — Kreimer spent 90 minutes — twice—staring at reference librarians; 6/15/89 — [Library Director] called police after Kreimer was belligerent and hostile towards her; 7/21/89 — Patron ... followed by Kreimer after leaving Library. ...” In May 1989, the Board determined that it would enact written rules expressly prohibiting certain behavior in the Library, and authorizing the Library Director to expel any patron who violated them. The stated purpose of these rules, entitled “Patron Conduct,” was to “allow all patrons of the joint free public library of Morristown and Morris Township to use its facilities to the maximum extent possible during its regularly scheduled hours.” The rules included the following provisions: 1. Patrons shall be engaged in normal activities associated with the use of a public library while in the building. Patrons not engaged in reading, studying, or using library materials may be asked to leave the building. Loitering will not be tolerated. 5. Patrons shall respect the rights of other patrons and shall not annoy others through noisy or boisterous activities, by unnecessary staring, by following another person through the building, by playing walkmans or other audio equipment so that others can hear it, by singing or talking to oneself or by other behavior which may reasonably result in the disturbance of other persons. 9. Patron dress and personal hygiene shall conform to the standard of the community for public places. This shall include the repair or cleanliness of garments. Any patron not abiding by these or other rules and regulations of the Library, may be asked to leave the Library premises. Library employees shall contact the Mor-ristown Police if deemed advisable. Any patron who violates the Library rules and regulations may be denied the privilege of access to the Library by the Library Board of Trustees, on recommendation of the Library Director. App. at 130. While this set of rules was in effect, the Library expelled Kreimer on at least two occasions for violations of rules 1 and 9. In response, Kreimer consulted with the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey which wrote to the Library on July 5, 1989, asserting that several provisions of this set of rules were unconstitutional. First, the ACLU-NJ stated that “the policy against loitering is vague and therefore a violation of the Due Process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment as well as a violation of our state constitution.” The ACLU-NJ also indicated its view that “the library policy is ... constitutionally infirm in that it encompasses behavior which ‘annoys’ other patrons.” In addition, it found “[e]qually offensive ... section 9 of the policy which mandates that personal dress and hygiene conform to the ‘community standards’.” Finally, the ACLU-NJ asserted that “[a]llowing library officials, in their own discretion, to ban individuals in the absence of specific guidelines and standards, makes the policy defective for its vagueness.” The Library responded to the ACLU-NJ’s concerns in a letter dated July 14, 1989, noting that “access to the Library is a privilege or license granted by the Library to all on condition that the reasonable rules and regulations of the Library are complied with.... In our opinion, the Executive Director of the Library or her authorized representative has the power and the responsibility to revoke the privilege of a patron to use the Library facilities when the rules and regulations are violated, including the power to require the patron to leave the Library premises.” However, on July 25, 1989, in an attempt to assuage the ACLU-NJ’s concerns, the Board modified provisions 1, 5, and 9, as well as the two unnumbered paragraphs following rule 9, so that they, along with rule 6, read as follows: 1. Patrons shall be engaged in activities associated with the use of a public library while in the building. Patrons not engaged in reading, studying, or using library materials shall be required to leave the building. 5. Patrons shall respect the rights of other patrons and shall not harass or annoy others through noisy or boisterous activities, by staring at another person with the intent to annoy that person, by following another person about the building with the intent to annoy that person, by playing audio equipment so that others can hear it, by singing or talking to others or in monologues, or by behaving in a manner which reasonably can be expected to disturb other persons. 6. Patrons shall not interfere with the use of the Library by other patrons, or interfere with Library employees’ performance of their duties. 9. Patrons shall not be permitted to enter the building without a shirt or other covering of their upper bodies or without shoes or other footwear. Patrons whose bodily hygiene is offensive so as to constitute a nuisance to other persons shall be required to leave the building. Any patron not abiding by these or other rules and regulations of the library shall be asked to leave the library premises. Library employees shall contact the Mor-ristown Police if deemed advisable. Any patron who violates the Library rules and regulations shall be denied the privilege of access to the Library by the Library Board of Trustees, on recommendation of the Library Director. Any patron whose privileges have been denied, may have the decision reviewed by the Board of Trustees. Supp.App. at 21. Although the ACLU-NJ to an extent approved of the Library’s extensive modifications of its previous rules, it maintained that the rules still accorded the Library staff with excessive discretion to determine who may use the Library, and expressed fear that this discretion would be exercised “in a discriminatory manner against homeless people.” It reiterated that “the provision concerning bodily hygiene will result in discriminatory treatment of the homeless by virtue of their status.” The Library, however, elected not to modify the rules further, and expelled Kreimer from its premises when he did not comply. On January 2, 1990, Kreimer filed a pro se complaint in the district court against the Morristown Bureau of Police, the Library, the Board, Rice, three Library employees and four police officers, seeking punitive and compensatory damages for “pain and suffering, emotional distress, humiliation, negligence, violation of ... civil rights to enter a public building, first amendment rights violations, harassment, defamation of character, and discrimination because of my homeless status” stemming from his ejection from the Library. Kreimer filed an amended complaint on February 16, 1990, which enlarged the named defendants to include the Morristown Chief of Police, the President of the Library and the Morristown Business Administrator. On May 7,1990, Kreimer filed a second amended complaint naming as additional defendants the former and then-current mayors of Morristown, the then-current mayor and business administrator of Morris Township, an additional police officer, two additional Library employees and the President of the Board. Subsequently, the district court appointed counsel for Kreimer who, on September 14, 1990, filed another amended complaint which we simply call the complaint. Count one of the complaint alleged that the rules “are vague and overbroad, both on their face and as applied by library employees, in violation of the plaintiffs [sic] rights under the First Amendment and plaintiffs right to due process of law guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.” This count additionally alleged that the rules, as written and applied, violated Kreimer’s right to: equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, because the subjective (and vague) standards in the policy, even if objectively definable, cannot be met by the plaintiff or others who cannot maintain the same degree of bodily hygiene because of their homeless status or because of an involuntary physical condition. The policies are not applied equally to the plaintiff and other homeless individuals as they are to other library patrons. Supp.App. at 14. Count two of the complaint alleged violations of the New Jersey Constitution, as well as of N.J.Stat.Ann. § 2C:1-5(d) (West 1982), which provides that “the local governmental units of this State may neither enact nor enforce any ordinance or other local law or regulation conflicting with, or preempted by, any provision of this code or with any policy of this State expressed by this code.” It further asserted that the defendants violated New Jersey common law construing and enforcing the statute. Accordingly, Kreimer sought a preliminary and permanent injunction against the enforcement of rules 1, 5, and 9, and the two unnumbered paragraphs, as well as compensatory and punitive damages and attorneys fees. On October 30, 1990, the defendants answered the complaint and requested in a counterclaim that the court issue an order “restraining and enjoining [Kreimer] from entering ... [the Library and] ... restraining and enjoining ... Kreimer from harassing the patrons and employees of the Library in or about the Library premises including the sidewalks and streets abutting the Library.” The defendants additionally sought attorneys fees and costs under 42 U.S.C. § 1988. The defendants then moved either to dismiss the complaint in its entirety or for a summary judgment upholding the facial validity of the rules, and Kreimer filed a cross-motion to dismiss the counterclaim and for a summary judgment that the rules are facially invalid under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, as well as under the New Jersey Constitution. On May 16, 1991, the court heard oral argument on the motions for summary judgment, and on May 22, 1991, it issued an order denying the defendants’ motion for summary judgment and granting summary judgment for Kreimer. Accordingly, the court ordered that paragraphs 1, 5 and 9, as well as the two unnumbered paragraphs, were “null and void on their face and unenforceable,” and enjoined the Library from enforcing those provisions. The Library appeals and we have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a)(1). n. ANALYSIS A. Standard of Review Our review of the district court’s order granting summary judgment in Kreimer’s favor is plenary. Maguire v. Hughes Aircraft Corp., 912 F.2d 67, 69 (3d Cir.1990); IUE AFL-CIO Pension Fund v. Barker & Williamson, Inc., 788 F.2d 118, 122 (3d Cir.1986). In determining whether summary judgment was correctly granted, we must: apply the same test the district court should have utilized initially. Inferences to be drawn from the underlying facts contained in the evidential sources submitted to the trial court must be viewed in the light most favorable to the party opposing the motion. The non-movant’s allegations must be taken as true, and when these assertions conflict with those of the movant, the former must receive the benefit of the doubt. Goodman v. Mead Johnson & Co., 534 F.2d 566, 573 (3d Cir.1976), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 1038, 97 S.Ct. 732, 50 L.Ed.2d 748 (1977). Summary judgment may only be granted where “there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and ... the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). Moreover, as we reiterated in Losch v. Borough of Parkesburg, 736 F.2d 903 (3d Cir.1984), “[wjhile summary judgment may be based upon affidavits, conflicts of credibility should not be resolved on a hearing on the motion for summary judgment unless the opponent’s evidence is ‘too incredible to be believed by reasonable minds.’ ” Id. at 909 (quoting 6 J. Moore, Moore’s Federal Practice If 56.-15(4) at 56-512.3-56-530). In most cases, an appellate court reversing a grant of summary judgment will not direct the district court to enter a summary judgment order in favor of the appellant, because a genuine issue of fact will remain. First National Bank v. Lincoln National Life Insurance Co., 824 F.2d 277, 281 (3d Cir.1987). However, when the appeal concerns only issues of law, as in this case, we are free to enter an order directing summary judgment in favor of the appellant. Id. at 281. See Nazay v. Miller, 949 F.2d 1323, 1328 (3d Cir.1991); Beck v. Reliance Steel Products Co., 860 F.2d 576, 581 (3d Cir.1988). B. First Amendment Right to Receive Information The first issue to be addressed in any challenge to the constitutional validity of a rule under the First Amendment is whether a First Amendment right exists, for “if it [does] not, we need go no further.” Cornelius v. NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc., 473 U.S. 788, 797, 105 S.Ct. 3439, 3446, 87 L.Ed.2d 567 (1985). Kreimer bases his First Amendment claim in the “right to receive information and ideas,” and identifies the “vital role played by public libraries” in promoting the fullest exercise of that right. The Library denies that a First Amendment analysis is even applicable and contends instead that the right to receive information “has been found to exist only in cases involving content-based censorship.” Our review of the relevant Supreme Court cases, as set forth below, leads us to conclude that a right to receive information founded under the First Amendment is implicated in this case. The First Amendment declares in broad terms that “Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech....” As history has confirmed, the “speech” component to this constitutional right is far-reaching and includes various methods of communication. However, it was not until Martin v. City of Struthers, 319 U.S. 141, 63 S.Ct. 862, 87 L.Ed. 1313 (1943), that the Supreme Court decided whether it includes the freedom to receive speech as well as the freedom to speak. In Martin, the appellant, a Jehovah’s Witness, distributed a leaflet to people’s homes advertising a meeting of her religious group. Although she “proceeded in a conventional and orderly fashion,” id. at 142, 63 S.Ct. at 863, she was convicted and fined for violating the following ordinance: It is unlawful for any person distributing handbills, circulars or other advertisements to ring the door bell, sound the door knocker, or otherwise summon the inmate or inmates of any residence to the door for the purpose of receiving such handbills, circulars or other advertisements they or any person with them may be distributing. Id. On appeal she urged that the ordinance as applied to her violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments guaranteeing the freedom of speech, press and religion. The Supreme Court agreed for three reasons. First, the Court observed that the framers “knew that novel and unconventional ideas might disturb the complacent, but they chose to encourage a freedom which they believed essential if vigorous enlightenment was ever to triumph over slothful ignorance. This freedom embraces the right to distribute literature ... and necessarily protects the right to receive it.” Id. at 143, 63 S.Ct. at 863 (emphasis supplied) (footnote omitted). Second, the Court recognized that there were three potentially conflicting interests in the case: the appellant’s interests in distributing information, the household dweller’s interest in choosing whether to receive that information, and the interests of the community in protecting all its citizens, including those who prefer not to receive this information. In the Court’s view, the ordinance improperly “substitutes the judgment of the community for the judgment of the individual householder,” id. at 143-44, 63 S.Ct. at 863, without carefully considering the interests at stake. Finally, the Court underscored that the distribution of pamphlets constituted an important means to disseminate ideas “in accordance with the best tradition of free discussion.” Id. at 145, 63 S.Ct. at 864. Because the freedom to distribute and receive information was “so clearly vital to the preservation of a free society” the Court announced that it “must be fully preserved.” Id. at 146-47, 63 S.Ct. at 865. Thus, the Court declared the ordinance unconstitutional. Later, in Lamont v. Postmaster General, 381 U.S. 301, 85 S.Ct. 1493, 14 L.Ed.2d 398 (1965), the Supreme Court considered the constitutionality of a federal law requiring that certain mail be detained until the addressee is notified and requests delivery. The statute in question provided in pertinent part: Mail matter, except sealed letters, which originates or which is printed or otherwise prepared in a foreign country and which is determined by the Secretary of the Treasury pursuant to rules and regulations to be promulgated by him to be ‘communist political propaganda’, shall be detained by the Postmaster General upon its arrival for delivery in the United States ... and the addressee shall be notified that such matter has been received and will be delivered only upon the addressee's request.... Id. at 302, 85 S.Ct. at 1494. The Supreme Court determined that the statute was unconstitutional “because it requires an official act (viz., returning the reply card) as a limitation on the unfettered exercise of the addressee[’s] First Amendment rights.” Id. at 305, 85 S.Ct. at 1495. In the Court’s view, the statutory requirement that the addressee return a reply card constituted an undue burden on the flow of ideas to the public, and stifled the “ ‘uninhibited, robust, and wide-open’ debate and discussion that are contemplated by the First Amendment.” Id. at 307, 85 S.Ct. at 1496-97 (quoting New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 270, 84 S.Ct. 710, 721, 11 L.Ed.2d 686 (1964)). Justice Brennan, concurring, made explicit what the majority assumed, observing that the question posed would be more troubling “if the addressees predicated their claim for relief upon the First Amendment rights of the senders.” Id., 381 U.S. at 307, 85 S.Ct. at 1497. However, the addressees grounded their argument in a personal right to receive information, and “the decisionf ] today uphold[s] this contention....” Id. at 308, 85 S.Ct. at 1497. Justice Brennan’s oft-quoted remark in Lamont now constitutes the hallmark of the right to receive information: “[t]he dissemination of ideas can accomplish nothing if otherwise willing addressees are not free to receive and consider them ... [for] [i]t would be a barren marketplace of ideas that had only sellers and no buyers.” Id. In Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479, 85 S.Ct. 1678, 14 L.Ed.2d 510 (1965), the Court, in a plurality opinion, again placed its imprimatur on the constitutional right to receive information. There, the appellants Griswold, the Executive Director of the Planned Parenthood League of Connecticut (“the League”), and Buxton, the Medical Director of the League, gave information and instruction to married persons concerning contraception. Connecticut prosecuted them for violations of statutes which provided that “[a]ny person who uses any drug, medicinal article or instrument for the purpose of preventing conception shall be fined ... or imprisoned ... or be both fined and imprisoned” and “[a]ny person who assists, abets, counsels, causes, hires or commands another to commit any offense may be prosecuted and punished as if he were the principal offender.” Id. at 480, 85 S.Ct. at 1679. The Court struck down each provision as unconstitutional on a variety of grounds, including the First Amendment. The Court reasoned that: [T]he State may not, consistently with the spirit of the First Amendment, contract the spectrum of available knowledge. The right of freedom of speech and press includes not only the right to utter or to print, but the right to distribute, the right to receive, the right to read ... and freedom of inquiry, freedom of thought, and freedom to teach.... Without those peripheral rights the specific rights would be less secure. Id. at 482-83, 85 S.Ct. at 1680-81. Hence, the First Amendment, like other constitutional guarantees, encompassed the “penumbral” right to receive information to ensure its fullest exercise. Id. at 483, 85 S.Ct. at 1681. • In Stanley v. Georgia, 394 U.S. 557, 89 S.Ct. 1243, 22 L.Ed.2d 542 (1969), a majority of the Supreme Court agreed that the First Amendment encompasses the right to receive information and ideas. There, the Court reversed the conviction of a defendant prosecuted under a state statute proscribing the private possession of obscene matter. Although the Court agreed that the government has a valid interest in “dealing with the problem of obscenity,” id. at 563, 89 S.Ct. at 1247, this interest did not foreclose an analysis of whether all possession of obscene material, including private possession, could be forbidden. At the outset of its analysis, the Court observed that “[i]t is now well established that the Constitution protects the right to receive information and ideas,” id. at 564, 89 S.Ct. at 1247, citing Martin, Lamont and Griswold as support for that proposition. The Court explained that the “right to receive information and ideas, regardless of their social worth ... is fundamental to our free society.” Id. The Court determined that, to protect the right to receive information and ideas, as well as the right to “satisfy [one’s] intellectual and emotional needs in the privacy of [one’s] home,” id. at 565, 89 S.Ct. at 1248, the state was precluded from making private possession of obscene material a crime. Next, in Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. Federal Communications Commission, 395 U.S. 367, 89 S.Ct. 1794, 23 L.Ed.2d 371 (1969), the Court extended the right to receive information beyond the censorship context. In Red Lion the Court upheld Federal Communications Commission requirements that a radio station furnish a person who was the subject of certain attacks with a tape, transcript or a summary of the broadcast and provide that person with free broadcast time for response. A clear majority of the Court found that “[i]t is the right of the viewers and listeners, not the right of the broadcasters, which is paramount.” Id. at 390, 89 S.Ct. at 1806. The Court further declared that “[i]t is the right of the public to receive suitable access to social, political, esthetic, moral, and other ideas and experiences which is crucial here. That right may not constitutionally be abridged either by Congress or by the FCC.” Id. at 390, 89 S.Ct. at 1807 (emphasis supplied). The broadcasters did not possess an unfettered right to make broadcast time available to those who could pay most, for the benefit of producing an “informed public capable of conducting its own affairs” outweighed any burden imposed on the broadcasters by the regulations. Id. at 392, 89 S.Ct. at 1807. Although the Supreme Court subsequently recognized the right to receive information in several other decisions, see, e.g., First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti, 435 U.S. 765, 783, 98 S.Ct. 1407, 1419, 55 L.Ed.2d 707 (1978) (“First Amendment ... afford[s] the public access to discussion, debate, and the dissemination of information and ideas”); Kleindienst v. Mandel, 408 U.S. 753, 762, 92 S.Ct. 2576, 2581, 33 L.Ed.2d 683 (1972) (First Amendment encompasses “right to receive information and ideas”), this issue generated vigorous debate in Board of Education v. Pico, 457 U.S. 853, 102 S.Ct. 2799, 73 L.Ed.2d 435 (1982), which includes seven separate opinions. There, the Board of Education of Island Trees Union Free School District No. 26 ordered that certain books which it characterized as “anti-American, Anti-Christian, and anti-Sem[i]tic, and just plain filthy,” id. at 857, 102 S.Ct. at 2803, be removed from high school and junior high school libraries within the school district. Students in that district brought suit for declaratory and injunctive relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that the school board’s actions had unlawfully infringed their First Amendment right to receive information. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the board, but the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed and remanded, ordering a trial on the merits of the students’ allegations. A plurality of the Supreme Court affirmed the court of appeals’ judgment, concluding that “the First Amendment impose[s] ... limitations upon the discretion of [the School Board] to remove library books from the [schools and] ... the affidavits and other evidentiary materials before the District Court, construed most favorably to [the students], raise a genuine issue of fact whether [the School Board] might have exceeded those limitations.” Id. at 863, 102 S.Ct. at 2806. The plurality recognized that “local school boards have broad discretion in the management of school affairs,” id., but held that such discretion is not absolute and “must be exercised in a manner that comports with the transcendent imperatives of the First Amendment.” Id. at 864, 102 S.Ct. at 2806-07. See, e.g., West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624, 63 S.Ct. 1178, 87 L.Ed. 1628 (1943) (school board cannot compel a student to salute the flag in a public school); Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 U.S. 503, 89 S.Ct. 733, 21 L.Ed.2d 731 (1969) (suspension of students in a public school for wearing black armbands to protest the Vietnam War violated students’ First Amendment rights). Although the Pico plurality agreed that courts “should not ‘intervene in the resolution of conflicts which arise in the daily operation of school systems’ unless ‘basic constitutional values’ are ‘directly and sharply implicate[d],’ ” id., 457 U.S. at 866, 102 S.Ct. at 2807-08 (quoting Epperson v. Arkansas, 393 U.S. 97, 104, 89 S.Ct. 266, 270, 21 L.Ed.2d 228 (1968)), it found that the “right to receive information” directly implicated the students’ free speech rights. The plurality observed that the First Amendment protects not only the right to self-expression, but also guarantees “ ‘public access to discussion, debate, and the dissemination of information and ideas.’ ” Id., 457 U.S. at 866, 102 S.Ct. at 2808 (quoting First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti, 435 U.S. at 783, 98 S.Ct. at 1419). Moreover, it indicated that the right to receive information: is an inherent corollary of the rights of free speech and press that are explicitly guaranteed by the Constitution, in two senses. First, the right to receive ideas follows ineluctably from the sender’s First Amendment right to send them.... More importantly, the right to receive ideas is a necessary predicate to the recipient’s meaningful exercise of his own rights of speech, press, and political freedom. Id., 457 U.S. at 867, 102 S.Ct. at 2808 (emphasis in original). In the plurality’s view, this constitutional guarantee carried no less force in the public school library context because “such access prepares students for active and effective participation in the pluralistic, often contentious society in which they will soon be adult members.” Id. at 868, 102 S.Ct. at 2808-09. Indeed, the “special characteristics of the school library make that environment especially appropriate for the recognition of the First Amendment rights of students,” for the library, unlike the school classroom, is a place for voluntary inquiry and study. Id. at 868, 102 S.Ct. at 2809 (emphasis in original). The plurality then identified certain limitations on the school board’s discretion to remove books, and affirmed the court of appeals' remand to assess whether those limitations had been exceeded. The four spirited dissents prompted by Pico each focused on the school board’s duty to “ ‘inculcat[e] fundamental values necessary to the maintenance of a democratic political system,’ ” id. at 889, 102 S.Ct. at 2819 (quoting Ambach v. Norwick, 441 U.S. 68, 74, 99 S.Ct. 1589, 1595, 60 L.Ed.2d 49 (1979)), and the broad discretion needed properly to carry out that responsibility. The dissenters believed that the plurality’s decision would trigger an improper arrogation of the school board’s power to the courts. For example, Chief Justice Burger declared that, “[ultimately the federal courts will be the judge of whether the motivation for book removal was ‘valid’ or ‘reasonable.’ ... Discretion must be used, and the appropriate body to exercise that discretion is the local elected school board, not judges.” Id., 457 U.S. at 890-91, 102 S.Ct. at 2820. Justice Powell similarly noted that “[t]he plurality opinion today rejects a basic concept of public school education in our country: that the States and locally elected school boards should have the responsibility for determining the educational policy of public schools.” Id. at 893, 102 S.Ct. at 2821-22. Justice Rehnquist likewise stated, “when [the government] acts as an educator, at least at the elementary and secondary school level, the government is engaged in inculcating social values and knowledge in relatively impressionable young people.... [A]ctions by the government as educator do not raise the same First Amendment concerns as actions by the government as sovereign.” Id. at 909-10, 102 S.Ct. at 2829-30. Similarly, Justice O’Connor agreed that “the plurality’s analysis overlooks the fact that in this case the government is acting in its special role as educator.” Id. at 921, 102 S.Ct. at 2835. The dissenters in Pico made no contention that the First Amendment did not encompass the right to receive information and ideas, but merely argued that the students could not freely exercise this right in the public school setting in light of the countervailing duties of the School Board. Justice Rehnquist’s opinion highlighted the source of contention when he declared: “The libraries of [elementary and secondary] schools serve as supplements to this inculcative role. Unlike universities or public libraries, elementary and secondary schools are not designed for freewheeling inquiry; they are tailored, as the public school curriculum is tailored, to the teaching of basic skills and ideas.” Id. at 915, 102 S.Ct. at 2832 (emphasis supplied). Our review of the Supreme Court’s decisions confirms that the First Amendment does not merely prohibit the government from enacting laws that censor information, but additionally encompasses the positive right of public access to information and ideas. Pico signifies that, consistent with other First Amendment principles, the right to receive information is not unfettered and may give way to significant countervailing interests. At the threshold, however, this right, first recognized in Martin and refined in later First Amendment jurisprudence, includes the right to some level of access to a public library, the quintessential locus of the receipt of information. C. The Facial Validity of the Rules The recognition of a constitutional right protecting public access to information and ideas is simply the threshold of our analysis. Our next step is to “identify the nature of the forum, because the extent to which the Government may limit access depends on whether the forum is public or nonpublic.” Cornelius, 473 U.S. at 797, 105 S.Ct. at 3446. 1. The Perry Approach In Perry Education Association v. Perry Local Educators’ Association, 460 U.S. 37, 103 S.Ct. 948, 74 L.Ed.2d 794 (1983), the Court adopted the “forum” analysis to determine whether a given rule or regulation violates the First Amendment. There, a school district and the duly elected exclusive bargaining representative for the school district’s teachers entered into a collective bargaining agreement which granted the representative sole access to teacher mailboxes and the inter-school mail system to the exclusion of a rival union. The rival union contended that such preferential access to the mail system was unconstitutional under the First and Fourteenth Amendments. In evaluating the rival union’s First Amendment argument, the Court noted that “[t]he existence of a right of access to public property and the standard by which limitations upon such a right must be evaluated differ depending upon the character of the property at issue,” id. at 44, 103 S.Ct. at 954, for the First Amendment requires neither equal nor unlimited access to public places. Thus, the Court identified three categories of government fora to inform an evaluation of the First Amendment’s mandates. The first class of government fora encompasses “places which by long tradition or by government flat have been devoted to assembly and debate.... ” Id. at 45, 103 S.Ct. at 954. This category includes streets and parks and public sidewalks, and other public spaces which “ ‘have immemorially been held in trust for the use of the public, and, time out of mind, have been used for purposes of assembly, communicating thoughts between citizens, and discussing public questions.’ ” Id., 103 S.Ct. at 954-55 (quoting Hague v. CIO, 307 U.S. 496, 515, 59 S.Ct. 954, 964, 83 L.Ed. 1423 (1939)). The government’s right to limit First Amendment activity in these “quintessential” public fora is “sharply circumscribed.” Id., 103 S.Ct. at 954. The Court held that content-based government regulations in this context are permissible only where “necessary to serve a compelling state interest and ... narrowly drawn to achieve that end.” Id., 103 S.Ct. at 955. Further, content-neutral time, place or manner restrictions are permissible if they are “narrowly tailored to serve a significant government interest, and leave open ample alternative channels of communication.” Id. The second class of government fora consists of “public property which the state has opened for use by the public as a place for expressive activity.” Id. Although the government is not required to open or indefinitely retain the open nature of these fora, once it does so the government is bound by the same limitations as exist in the traditional public forum context. In the Court’s words, “[reasonable time, place and manner regulations are permissible, and a content-based prohibition must be narrowly drawn to effectuate a compelling state interest.” Id., 460 U.S. at 46, 103 S.Ct. at 955. The third category of government property includes “nonpublic” fora which are not “by tradition or designation [fora] for public communication....” Id. at 46, 103 S.Ct. at 955. The Court reaffirmed that “ ‘[t]he State, no less than a private owner of property, has power to preserve the property under its control for the use to which it is lawfully dedicated.’ ” Id. In this setting, the government may enact and enforce “time, place, and manner regulations, [to] ... reserve the forum for its intended purposes, communicative or otherwise, as long as the regulation on speech is reasonable and not an effort to suppress expression because public officials oppose the speaker’s view.” Id. Applying its principles to the facts at issue in. Perry, the Court concluded that the school’s internal mailing system was neither a traditional public forum nor a designated public forum. It rejected the rival union’s contention that the mailing system fell within the designated public forum category and observed that, “[i]f by policy or by practice the Perry School District ha[d] opened its mail system for indiscriminate use by the general public, then [the rival union] could justifiably argue a public forum has been created.” Id. at 47, 103 S.Ct. at 956. However, the record contained: no indication ... that the school mailboxes and inter-school delivery system are open for use by the general public. Permission to use the system to communicate with teachers must be secured from the individual building principal. There is no court finding or evidence in the record which demonstrates that this permission has been granted as a matter of course to all who seek to distribute material.... This type of selective access does not transform government property into a public forum. Id. Moreover, the Court held that, even if the government had created some kind of designated public forum, “the constitutional right of access would in any event extend only to other entities of similar character.” Id. at 48, 103 S.Ct. at 956 (emphasis supplied). Because the union was not similar in nature to those entities that had traditionally been permitted to use the mail system, this caveat did not apply. It is clear to us that a public library, albeit the “quintessential” locus for the exercise of the right to receive information and ideas, is sufficiently dissimilar to a public park, sidewalk or street that it cannot reasonably be deemed to constitute a traditional public forum. Obviously, a library patron cannot be permitted to engage in most traditional First Amendment activities in the library, such as giving speeches or engaging in any other conduct that would disrupt the quiet and peaceful library environment. We thus reject the district court’s conclusion that the Library constitutes a “ ‘quintessential,’ ‘traditional’ public forum whose accessibility affects the bedrock of our democratic system.” 765 F.Supp. at 181 (quoting Perry, 460 U.S. at 45, 103 S.Ct. at 955). Accordingly, we must turn for guidance to the Court’s decisions that focus on when government property constitutes a “designated public forum.” 2. Designated Public Fora a. Traditional test: In Southeastern Promotions, Limited v. Conrad, 420 U.S. 546, 95 S.Ct. 1239, 43 L.Ed.2d 448 (1975), the Court concluded that a municipal theater constituted a designated public forum. There, a promoter of theatrical productions applied to the directors of the Chattanooga Memorial Auditorium to present the musical “Hair” at the city-leased auditorium. The directors rejected the promoter’s applications on the ground that the musical involved nudity and obscenity, and was therefore not “in the best interest of the community.” Id. at 548, 95 S.Ct. at 1241. The promoter brought suit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, which determined that the nudity and obscenity in the musical constituted criminal acts, not speech or symbolic speech, and were thus not entitled to First Amendment protection. On appeal, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed. The Supreme Court granted certiorari and reversed, holding that the “[directors’] rejection of [the promotor’s] application to use this public forum accomplished a prior restraint under a system lacking in constitutionally required minimal procedural safeguards.” Id. at 552, 95 S.Ct. at 1243. In reaching its conclusion, the Court underscored the “public” nature of the theaters. It held that the theaters were “designed for and dedicated to expressive activities.” Id. at 555, 95 S.Ct. at 1245. Next, the Court observed that the promoter “was not seeking to use a facility primarily serving a competing use.” Id. The Court additionally noted that “[n]o rights of individuals in surrounding areas were violated by noise or any other aspect of the production.” Id. at 555-56, 95 S.Ct. at 1245. On this basis, the Court determined that the government had opened the theater to the public, and its conduct generated a constitutional right of fair access to it. In Madison Joint School District v. Wisconsin Employment Relations Com., 429 U.S. 167, 97 S.Ct. 421, 50 L.Ed.2d 376 (1976), the Court held that a school board meeting constituted a designated public forum. There, a teachers’ union commenced an action alleging that the school board had committed an improper labor practice by permitting a teacher to speak at a public school board meeting in opposition to an agency shop proposition. The state employment relations commission, which was affirmed by the state Supreme Court, ordered the board to cease permitting employees, other than union representatives, to speak at meetings on matters subject to collective bargaining. In holding that the teacher could not constitutionally be prohibited from speaking at the meeting, the Court ultimately concluded that the order was an unlawful prior restraint based in part on the content of the speech but, as significant here, the Court emphasized that “the school board meeting ... was open to the public.” Id. at 174-75, 97 S.Ct. at 426 (footnote omitted). In the Court’s view, “[w]here the State has opened a forum for direct citizen involvement, it is difficult to find justification for excluding teachers who make up the overwhelming proportion of school employees and who are most vitally concerned with the proceedings.” Id. at 175, 97 S.Ct. at 426 (footnote omitted). In Widmar v. Vincent, 454 U.S. 263, 102 S.Ct. 269, 70 L.Ed.2d 440 (1981), the Court found that public university meeting places constitute designated public fora. In that case, a registered student religious group at the University of Missouri at Kansas City, a state university, sought to use university facilities to conduct its meetings, but the university informed the group that it could not due to a university regulation prohibiting the use of university buildings or grounds “for purposes of religious worship or religious teaching.” Id. at 265 n. 3, 102 S.Ct. at 272 n. 3. The student group challenged the university’s actions as viola-tive of its First Amendment rights and the Supreme Court agreed, determining that: Through its policy of accommodating their meetings, the University has created a forum generally open for use by student groups. Having done so, the University has assumed an obligation to justify its discriminations and exclusions under applicable constitutional norms. The Constitution forbids a State to enforce certain exclusions from a forum generally open to the public, even if it was not required to create the forum in the first place. Id. at 267-68, 102 S.Ct. at 273 (footnote omitted). See also Police Dept. of Chicago v. Mosley, 408 U.S. 92, 92 S.Ct. 2286, 33 L.Ed.2d 212 (1972); Healy v. James, 408 U.S. 169, 92 S.Ct. 2338, 33 L.Ed.2d 266 (1972); Cox v. Louisiana, 379 U.S. 536, 85 S.Ct. 453, 13 L.Ed.2d 471 (1965). The Court concluded that the university could not prohibit a religious student group from using the facilities when it permitted non-religious groups to do so. However, the Court recognized that the university’s actions did not transform it into a full-fledged traditional public forum, noting “[a] university differs in significant respects from public forums such as streets or parks or even municipal theaters. A university's mission is education, and decisions of this Court have never denied a university’s authority to impose reasonable regulations compatible with that mission....” Id., 454 U.S. at 267 n. 5, 102 S.Ct. at 273 n. 5. Accord, Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 U.S. at 506, 89 S.Ct. at 736 (First Amendment rights must be construed in “in light of the special characteristics of the school environment.”) b. Modem developments: The Supreme Court’s recent opinions on the characteristics of designated public fora, Cornelius, 473 U.S. 788, 105 S.Ct. 3439, and United States v. Kokinda, 497 U.S. 720, 110 S.Ct. 3115, 111 L.Ed.2d 571 (1990), seem to have slightly modified the Court’s previous definition, but in our view should not be read as signaling a departure from the Court’s established principles. In Cornelius, “Legal Defense Funds” brought suit in federal court challenging the constitutionality of an executive order which barred them from participating in the Combined Federal Campaign (“CFC”), a charity drive aimed at federal employees and military personnel. Although the Court reaffirmed that charitable solicitation constituted speech and was protected by the First Amendment, it deemed the executive order to be proper, relying on the “nonpublic” nature of the CFC to support its analysis. In the Cornelius Court’s words: The government does not create a public forum by inaction or by permitting limited discourse, but only by intentionally opening a nontraditional forum for public discourse.... Accordingly, the Court has looked to the policy and practice of the government to ascertain whether it intended to designate a place not traditionally open to assembly and debate as a public forum.... The Court has also examined the nature of the property and its compatibility with expressive activity to discern the government’s intent. Id., 473 U.S. at 802, 105 S.Ct. at 3449. There, the Court found that neither the practice nor the policy of the CFC was consistent with an intent to designate the CFC as a public forum, nor did the history of the CFC indicate that the government “was motivated by an affirmative desire to provide an open forum for charitable solicitation in the federal workplace when it began the Campaign.” Id. at 804-05, 105 S.Ct. at 3450. Finally, the nature of the CFC bolstered the Court’s conclusion that it was not a public forum, for “the Government has the right to exercise control over access to the federal workplace in order to avoid interruptions to the performance of the duties of its employees.” Id. at 805-06, 105 S.Ct. at 3451. Because the CFC was not a public forum, the Court merely reviewed the order to ensure that it was “reasonable in light of the purpose served by the forum and [was] viewpoint neutral.” Id. at 806, 105 S.Ct. at 3451. In Kokinda, the defendants were convicted of soliciting contributions on a sidewalk entirely on Postal Service property in front of a post office in violation of a Postal Service regulation. The defendants contended that the sidewalk was a public forum, and that the regulations were not narrowly tailored to further a significant government interest. A sharply divided Court disagreed. A four-justice plurality concluded that the sidewalk in front of the Post Office constituted neither a traditional nor a designated public forum. In rejecting the defendants’ contention that the sidewalk was a designated public forum, the plurality observed, “[t]he Postal Service has not expressly dedicated its sidewalks to any expressive activity. Indeed, postal property is expressly dedicated to only one means of communication: the posting of public notices on designated bulletin boards_ No postal service regulation opens postal sidewalks to any First Amendment activity.” 110 S.Ct. at 3121. In addition, the postal regulation specifically prohibiting disruption evinced the government’s desire to retain control over the forum. Finally, heeding Cornelius’ directive that government intent is of primary significance in the analysis, the Court repeated that “ ‘[t]he government does not create a public forum by ... permitting limited discourse, but only by intentionally opening a non-traditional forum for public discourse.’ ” Id. at 3121 (quoting Cornelius, 473 U.S. at 802, 105 S.Ct. at 3449 (emphasis in original)). 3. Limited Public Fora In our view, an application of the Supreme Court’s declarations concerning this issue, as well as an examination of the factual similarities and dissimilarities among the cases discussed above and the present one, confirm that the Library constitutes a limited public forum, a type of designated public fora. a. Government intent: Our first step in this analysis which leads us to reach this conclusion is .to determine whether the government, here Morristown and Morris Township, intended to open a non-traditional forum for expressive activity. It is of great significance that Morristown and Morris Township were not obliged to open a public library; rather, they did so by choice. Moreover, the New Jersey statute governing the establishment of public libraries provides that “[n]o such library shall be established in any municipality unless assented to by a majority of the legal voters of the municipality, at an election, general or special, at which the question of the adoption of this article shall be submitted to vote by direction of the governing body.” N.J.Stat.Ann. § 40:54-2. Further, the stated purpose of the rules at issue here is to “allow all patrons of the Joint Free Public Library of Morristown and Morris Township to use its facilities to the maximum extent possible during its regularly scheduled hours.” These facts establish a governmental intent to open the Library to the public for specific purposes. In this case, the government intentionally opened the Library to the public for expressive activity, namely “the communication of the written word.” b. Extent of use: Our next step is to determine the extent of use granted, for if the government has retained the discretion to choose whom it will permit to enter the Library, this will undercut an assertion that the government intentionally opened the Library to the public for the exercise of specific First Amendment activities. We note in this regard that a designated public forum need not be open to the public at large, but may be opened to a specific class of people or for the discussion of certain subject matter. See, e.g., Widmar v. Vincent, 454 U.S. at 267 n. 5, 102 S.Ct. at 273 n. 5 (although a university campus is a designated public forum, campus need not “make all of its facilities equally available to students and nonstudents alike, or ... grant free access to all of its grounds or buildings”). See also Perry Education Association v. Perry Local Educators’Association, 460 U.S. at 45 n. 7, 103 S.Ct. at 955 n. 7 (“A public forum may be created for a limited purpose such as use by certain groups ... or for the discussion of certain subjects”); Brody v. Spang, 957 F.2d 1108, 1117-18, (3d Cir.1992) (“When examining the extent , of use granted, we must be mindful that a designated public forum ‘may be so designated for only limited uses or for a limited class of speakers.’ ”) (Quoting Student Coalition for Peace v. Lower Merion School Dist. Bd. of Directors, 776 F.2d 431, 436 (3d Cir.1985)). The limited information in the record indicates that the Library does not retain unfettered discretion governing admission. Indeed, N.J.Stat.Ann. § 40:54-29.3, provides that the Library is “for the use and benefit of the residents of [Morristown and Morris Township].” Hence, unlike Cornelius, the facts do not suggest that the government must affirmatively grant permission to each resident who wishes to enter on each occasion. Rather, the record indicates that the Library exercises its authority to exclude a patron only after his or her violation of the rules. However, the Library’s rules make clear that the Library is open to the public only for specified purposes: reading, studying, using the Library materials. The Library has not opened its door for the exercise of all First Amendment activities. c. Nature of the forum: Our final inquiry regarding the characterization of the forum concerns its nature and its compatibility with expressive activity for, as the Court observed in Cornelius, “[w]e will not find that a public forum has been created ... when the nature of the property is inconsistent with expressive activity.” 473 U.S. at 803, 105 S.Ct. at 3449. Accord, United States v. Kokinda, 110 S.Ct. at 3125 (“If our public forum jurisprudence is to retain vitality, we must recognize that certain objective characteristics of Government property and its customary use by the public may control the case.”) (Kennedy, J., concurring). A library is “a place dedicated to quiet, to knowledge, and to beauty.” Brown v. Louisiana, 383 U.S. 131, 142, 86 S.Ct. 719, 724, 15 L.Ed.2d 637 (1966). Its very purpose is to aid in the acquisition of knowledge through reading, writing and quiet contemplation. Thus, the exercise of other oral and interactive First Amendment activities is antithetical to the nature of the Library. These arguably conflicting characteristics, at least in a First Amendment sense, support our conclusion that the Library constitutes a limited public forum, a sub-category of designated public fora. See Brody v. Spang, at 1118. We thus adopt the reasoning of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Travis v. Owego-Apalachin School District, 927 F.2d 688 (2d Cir.1991), where the court held that a limited public forum “is created when government opens a nonpublic forum but limits the expressive activity to certain kinds of speakers or to the discussion of certain subjects.... In the case of a limited public forum, constitutional protection is afforded only to expressive activity of a genre similar to those that government has admitted to the limited forum.” Id. at 692 (emphasis supplied). Hence, as a limited public forum, the Library is obligated only to permit the public to exercise rights that are consistent with the nature of the Library and consistent with the government’s intent in designating the Library as a public forum. Other activities need not be tolerated. 4. Our Judicial Review The Supreme Court has indicated that restrictions that do not limit those First Amendment activities the government has specifically permitted in the designated public forum need only be “reasonable and ‘not an effort to suppress expression merely because public officials oppose the speaker’s view.’ ” Kokinda, 110 S.Ct. at 3121 (quoting Perry, 460 U.S. at 46, 103 S.Ct. at 955). In contrast, time, place or manner regulations that limit permitted First Amendment activities within a designated public forum are constitutional only if they are “narrowly tailored to serve a significant governmental interest, and ... leave open ample alternative channels for communication of information.” Ward v. Rock Against Racism, 491 U.S. 781, 791, 109 S.Ct. 2746, 2753,105 L.Ed.2d 661 (1989) (quoting Clark v. Community for Creative Non-Violence, 468 U.S. 288, 293, 104 S.Ct. 3065, 3069, 82 L.Ed.2d 221 (1984)). See also Brody v. Spang, at 1121. Significantly, the parties do not contend that any of the challenged regulations purport to restrict First Amendment activities on the basis of content or viewpoint. We examine the challenged rules in sequence applying these standards. Rule 1: The district court struck down a rule that provided: Patrons shall be engaged in activities associated with the use. of a public library while in the building. Patrons not engaged in reading, studying, or using library materials shall be required to leave the building. By definition, the rule prohibits activities beyond the purpose for which the Library was opened. Accordingly, this rule is subject to the “reasonableness” standard of review. The aim of the rules, as correctly identified by the district court, is “to foster[ ] a quiet and orderly atmosphere ... conducive to every patron’s exercise of their constitutionally protected interest in receiving and reading written communications.” 765 F.Supp. at 187. Requiring that its patrons make use of the Library in order to be permitted to remain there is a reasonable means to achieve that end. The Library need not be used as a lounge or a shelter. Clearly the rule is reasonable and is perfectly valid. Rule 5: The court also enjoined the enforcement of the following rule: Patrons shall respect the rights of other patrons and shall not harass or annoy others through noisy or boisterous activities, by staring at another person with the intent to annoy that person, by following another p