Residents NOT living in a community have no constitutional right to borrow books from its library, a divided Michigan Supreme Court has ruled.

Thursday, the court voted 4 - 3 to dismiss the lawsuit of George Goldstone, who sued after Oakland County's Bloomfield Township Public Library refused to sell him a nonresident library card. Goldstone lives in nearby Bloomfield Hills, which does NOT have a library.

The majority says the township's residency requirement is a viable way to run a local library. But the dissent says Michigan's constitution lets any Michigan citizen borrow books from any public library in the state.