ANDOVER — How important is a trip to the library to you? For one local man, his right to browse the bookshelves is worth $10 million.

Ross Tobia, a local, self-published author, who suffers from mental illness, is suing the Memorial Hall Library for that lofty sum after he was banned from the building in January for allegedly swearing, yelling and threatening staff there.

The Walnut Avenue resident claims his civil rights were violated when police warned him to stay away from the library or risk arrest, according to a lawsuit he filed in Newburyport Superior Court two weeks ago.

Tobia stated in court records that he suffers from epilepsy and bipolar disorder. He sometimes talks to himself and becomes agitated. But, he wrote, he is harmless and library personnel should have accommodated his illnesses.

"The library is the bastion of free speech in the nation and as such must be available to all citizens," Tobia said in the lawsuit.

Tobia was banned on Jan. 11, after library officials filed a complaint with police. Police visited his home later that day with the news.

In a letter to Tobia, Library Director James Sutton explained why Tobia could no longer be a library patron. Sutton said Tobia had shouted about surveillance cameras for the last couple weeks and shouted as he threw books into the book drop.

On the day he was banned, Tobia allegedly began staring threateningly at librarians, and raised his voice as he coughed and yelled, "I have a contagious disease."

Tobia later told a circulation assistant, "You are full of (expletive)," Sutton wrote in the letter to Tobia, which is included in the court complaint.

Harassing staff members is against the rules of the library.

"Your behavior has been both a threat to staff and disruptive to other library patrons," Sutton stated in the letter.

Tobia wrote "Grand Unified Theory: Physics for a New Age," which tackles topics like the creation of the universe and possibilities of psychic phenomena. On his Web site, Tobia says he has a master's degree in psychology research.

"Some people do not comprehend me," Tobia said in his lawsuit.

The book is not on the shelves at the Memorial Hall Library, but Tobia has spoken about his book at the Lawrence Public Library in the past.

In his lawsuit, Tobia said he had his iPod on when he spoke to library staff, so he may not have realized he was being loud while looking at postings in the building's basement. He also claims he will file civil or criminal charges against the library for having too much surveillance equipment.

Tobia's lawsuit also names the United States Department of Justice and the town of Andover as defendants. He is acting as his own attorney.

The defendants had not responded to the suit as of Friday.

When reached Friday afternoon, Sutton, the library director, said he would not comment about the case.

Tobia, when contacted at his home, said he did file suit against the library, but mid-way through a conversation contradicted himself.

"Maybe you have the wrong Ross Tobia. ... I don't know what to say," Tobia said, before hanging up.