Bum deal for the community.

The Clermont County Public Library has changed its policy on meeting rooms in the wake of a lawsuit over their use for religious purposes.

The library board on Monday voted to limit the use of meeting rooms to library programs, said Joe Braun, president of the board.

“We regret that this policy change will have the effect of not allowing the Boy Scouts, the Girl Scouts and other nonprofit groups the ability to use our meeting rooms,” Braun said.

The 10-branch system’s old policy allowed those groups but prohibited the use of meeting rooms for political, religious or social events.

The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati last week on behalf of a couple who claimed their First Amendment rights to free speech were violated when they were barred from holding a free financial planning seminar at the Amelia branch because they intended to quote from the Bible.

Click through to the Cincinnati Enquirer for the rest of the article.