COVID-19

Help!  We just got a very scary "cease and desist" notice from a company claiming to own the copyrights to some videos that were posted on our web site and used internally.  They want $2,000 to "settle" a copyright claim, and they say we have 10 days to reply or they will sue!  This notice is sitting in my in-box like a ticking time bomb, please let me know what we should do. 

As the use of online tools for tracking use of copyright-protected content becomes more widespread, this is happening to schools, libraries, museums, and other cultural/educational institutions with greater frequency.

A public library is looking at the possibility of taking over the running of a medical loan closet that has been previously run by a church.

The library would find a space through a partner, so it would not be on library property.

Before I answer, let's talk about why a person or business might create an LLC ("limited liability company").

A primary function of an “LLC”[1] is to do exactly what the member has proposed—to create a separate entity designed to hold the liability associated with a particular venture.

In light of recent accusations of alleged misconduct by community organization volunteers utilizing public library facilities, how should libraries protect themselves moving forward?

In 2012, I was an in-house attorney at a university when the "Penn State Scandal"[1] broke.  Along with the nation, I was horrified to learn about the serial sexual abuse of children by a powerful coach in an NCAA Division I football program--and just as critically, the system that allowed the abuse to go unchecked for so long.

COVID has made online library card registration essential in many areas. What do we need to consider when dispensing online (temporary cards that allow access to e-resources) and physical library cards to children? At what age, and under what circumstances do we need to get a guardian's signature? Can we require some form of ID for children?

I remember getting my first library card at the Utica Public Library with my Dad, circa 1985.  It was a right of passage: something "official" before I could drive, or work, or vote; a stepping-stone to adult life.

Can you provide a template facility use agreement for renting or allowing community groups to regularly use space in a public or association library?

Yes, I can!  But first, a few caveats:

I work with a number of municipal public libraries - some are village, others are town. Some libraries use their municipality's employee handbooks, payroll, services like snow blowing and building maintenance, and have the municipalities cut the checks.

Many of the questions we get at "Ask the Lawyer"[1] relate to this concern.  As the priorities cited by the member suggest, the library-municipality relationship is a Big Issue.

A small, rural public library, we have public restrooms. In pre-pandemic times, our restrooms were not kept locked, and were cleaned once a day by our building's maintenance person.

Like many of you, I have had to tackle a lot of previously unaddressed conundrums since March of 2020.  Especially when it involved developing a Safety Plan, this "tackling" has required research, patience, a good sense of humor, and lots of flexibility.[1]

My library's reopening plan calls for not allowing group meetings/ programs for a time.

I have been looking at some of my post-COVID "Ask the Lawyer" responses, and they are pretty grim.  Such serious writing.

Of course, these are serious days, and operating during COVID-19 is a serious topic.

But I have been on the lookout for a chance for some joy, if not some outright levity.  And finally, this question supplies one!

We got lucky: an employee, who was asymptomatic at work but tripped one of the screening factors requiring him to stay home, was tested and found NEGATIVE for COVID-19.

Our employee is coming back to work, but I have been wondering...what if the test came back POSITIVE?  If we have to quarantine all our employees, we'd be shut down completely!

First: that is good news about your employee.

Second: a gold star to your library for having a screening system that works, and for following the requirement to restrict an employee who trips a screening factor from on-site work while waiting for test results.

Third: Let's talk about your alternate scenario (the one where you don't get such good news).

Should a board of trustees vote on their institution’s COVID-19 Safety Plan?  Or should the adoption of the Plan be left entirely to the institution’s director or executive director?

Who is “in charge” of a library’s safety plan--the trustees, or the director?

It’s tricky, but if you bear with me, you will get an answer.