We are a school district public library. Can the school require the library to be part of its budget vote if the library desires to be separate from it?
School district libraries are one of the 5 “types” of public library (the others are: association, Indian, municipal, and special district).[1]
Our trustee petitions to run for board seats are due 30 days before our election. That date happens to fall on a Sunday. What is the best practice for dates that fall on a Sunday? What is the best practice for dates that fall on a Saturday? Our petitions are due at the school, the school is closed on Saturday and Sunday.
We are an association library that receives about 75% of our operating budget from a tax levy approved by school district voters via a [New York State Education Law Section] 259 ballot proposition. In 2019 the school informed us that they had settled a case with a local resident about the assessed value of their property and how much was paid in taxes in 2018 and 2019.
Let’s give short, punchy answers to the questions and then drill down with further information about each answer.
If the library was not a party to the settlement (which it wasn’t), NO.
Our library gets taxpayer funding from its own line on a school district tax bill. We know this "259" funding is a recurring tax that can only be changed with approval of the voters. That said, this year the total amount remitted by the school district was reduced due to "corrections" made after the tax bills went out.
The short answer is yes, it's true. A school district tax levy, even if it’s a separate line on a school district bill in support of a library, can be reduced if a taxpayer challenges their assessment after the tax bills go out, and yes, since 2022, a library may have to refund overpayments.
We are a small, urban, very diverse school district with a large English Language Learner (ELL) population and a high poverty rate. Our school library spaces are small and do not have adjoining meeting rooms. There is no dedicated prayer/meditation space in our schools either.
In the United States, public schools that accept federal funding are barred from restricting student access to generally available space on the basis of “religious, political, philosophical…” beliefs.[1]
A school district public library is considering installing closed-circuit cameras and thinking of enabling sound recordings, too. Is it legal to record sound, thinking it is a violation of patron privacy? Can board members review the tapes?
The answer to these highly specific questions will assume readers have reviewed the ALA's excellent general guidance at https://www.ala.org/advocacy/privacy/guidelines/videosurveillance and the "Ask the Lawyer" guidance here: https://wnylrc.org/raq/patron-pr
The library is chartered as a school district public library and thus exempt from NYS sales tax. Due to a mold issue we ended up having our HVAC contractor rent two humidifiers for us, the contractor made the arrangements and we paid for the rental via the contractor. The contractor told the renting business that we were tax exempt. The renting business refuses to remove the sales tax.
Short answer: You can't find anything to verify that claim because what is claimed is wrong.
Long answer: The rental business may be wrong, but I can't blame them the way I can blame someone for parking in a "No Parking" zone.[1]
DO ensure your school district library system, school district, or school has a robust and well-thought-out "school library materials policy"[1] ("Policy") governing selection, procurement, cataloging, lending, concerns, re-evaluation, and removal of library materials.
Our local public library has started a collection of donated yearbooks from the high school. They requested to receive or purchase new yearbooks as they were published. As the yearbook contains underage students, information about their sports and clubs, we felt that this was protected personal information and should not be publicly accessible.
I appreciate the care behind this question: when yearbook information is being assembled, not many people are thinking about all the places the publication could potentially go.
We have a school district public library board considering requiring background checks for new employees. They are concerned that they may be legally required to background check all current employees. Would there be any legal reason they would need to do so?
[NOTE: for background to this short answer, please see the much longer "Ask the Lawyer" Background checks and fingerprinting for new employees, that addresses the tightrope walk/legal minefields of employee background checks.]
