Several museums in the US - including the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden and the National Gallery of Art - have banned the use of the sticks that help visitors shoot self portraits in the galleries. Others may follow.
"We would like to have a policy that covers all museums. It's much easier that way," said Linda St Thomas, spokeswoman for the Smithsonian Institution. If a ban is adopted, it will be posted on the website, she said.
Several Smithsonian units, including the Hirshhorn and the Air and Space Museum, have already decided the sticks are like monopods and tripods and can't be used for safety reasons. Many museums around the country, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Getty Center in Los Angeles, have already banned them.
The National Gallery of Art doesn't allow visitors to wear backpacks or carry monopods, tripods and umbrellas; the selfie stick is a similar object.
"Anything that might swing around," said spokeswoman Deborah Ziska. "We ask people to check them at the coat room. It's about safety of the art, and in a crowded situation, safety of visitors."
