Our Board of Trustees is searching for a new director. Our Library has transitioned from a very small building to a modern, significantly larger building. As a public library, the school district we serve has a population of more than 18,000. Our former director did not have a contract.
We are a school district public library planning a capital project. The question is whether or not the project has to be approved by a public vote. We have been given money from our assemblyman towards the cost of the construction of one item in the plan.
There are a few scenarios where a capital project, such as a renovation, could start with a vote of the electorate of a school district library.[1] If the project is subject to a bond, requires a tax levy increase, or is somehow tied to a referendum, the voters' go-ahead might be needed before work[2] can begin. In additi
My library (municipal public library) is working on updating the meeting room policy for a number of reasons. Two major pieces of focus are what types of groups/organizations are able to request use of the meeting rooms. The other piece is requiring all meetings to be open to the public.
Before I answer this thoughtful array of questions, it is important to establish that aside from law, regulation, and library-specific policy, use of and access to space at public and association libraries can be governed by:
The library's podcast (Your Friendly Neighborhood Librarians), hosted by two librarians here, recently started interviewing guests from outside the organization. We are concerned about a few things: what the ramifications are if a guest does not like the way their interview was edited and whether the library owns the rights to the interview and recording.
Some days, I just love my job. The day I subscribed to "Your Friendly Neighborhood Librarians" (2/4/22) to answer this question was one of those days.
We were asked about signage to post over the public copier at a libraries open to the public. Below is some template language with footnotes explaining why they say what they do. Of course, before posting in your school or library, check with your lawyer!
MAKING A COPY ON THIS MACHINE
MAY BE SUBJECT TO THE COPYRIGHT LAW OF THE UNITED STATES[1]
This means 4 important things:
Often times, our meeting agenda changes so we would like to add a disclosure at the bottom that reads “Agenda is subject to change.”
Is this something that is allowed, and would it need to be included in our bylaws?
With the changes to the open meetings law and more attention on library leadership generally, now is a good time to think about the nuances of public library meeting agendas.
Since agendas have to be posted in advance, it is true that sometimes a board may have to make an 11th-hour change.
A town municipal public library has been told by the town that the library cannot have a donate to the library button on the library's website. The library hosts its own website, and the donations would go into a library checking account.
There is no legal authority in New York that denies the ability of a town public library (or any municipally affiliated public library) to solicit donations.
There is no law that bars it.
There is no regulation that bars it.
There is no comptroller opinion that bars it.
There is no attorney general opinion that bars it.
For public libraries that must comply with Freedom of Information Law (FOIL), how does FOIL impact our organization's use of social media? What sort of social media records can be FOIL-ed and what are some best practices for using social media in regards to FOIL?
This is a timely question, because New York's Committee on Open Government (the authority on all things FOIL), has recently stated[1] that not only do public libraries have to follow FOIL, but cooperative public library systems have to, as well.
What law, regulation, or regulatory authority governs the budget transfer policy at a school district public library? Is there any case law or authority on that?
Quite a few laws, regulations, and regulatory authorities will impact the budget transfer policy of a school district public library. Here are the biggies:
How does the NY HERO Act https://dol.ny.gov/ny-hero-act apply to the different types of libraries? Are Association Libraries included?
The letters in the "NY HERO Act" stand for "Health and Essential Rights."[1]
What "essential rights" does it protect?
