Fire codes cap the number of children allowed in at one time.
Fourteen-year-old Leonard Spies was in a tree. Ashlyn Hendrickson, 12, took his picture in front of a sign that read "No Loitering."
Yes, he was loitering. So were about two dozen more kids on the lawn of Seminole Heights Library on Monday afternoon. Another two dozen were inside.
A fire marshal set library capacity at 49 in November. Since then, once the library is full, an off-duty deputy admits a patron for each one who leaves. Before, up to 120 people - mostly unaccompanied children - crowded into the 6,000-square-foot building after school.
It's a problem for many urban libraries. Seminole Heights sits across the street from Memorial Middle and Hillsborough High schools, and Broward Elementary is nearby.
