Recently Asked Questions

An academic librarian relayed this question from a researcher/author:

"I am in the stage of tracking down photo permissions and have found images originally published by U.S. presses from the late 1800s and early 1900s (1887, 1893) that are now defunct--hence I cannot request photo permissions from them. The images are posted online by historical societies, but I'm not sure if they're in the public domain or not.   I plan to reach out to the society publishing the images on their digital archives, and credit them for using the images, but is there any other factor to consider?"

My hometown library has implemented a fitness waiver for their movement and exercise activity programs. I am wondering if this is a good idea for my library. We provide some exercise classes including chair yoga, Zumba, nature walks, and are looking into another movement class activity. For reference, please copy and paste the form used by my hometown library [redacted for anonymity] into your browser or refer to the attached screenshot. Are we within our legal/ethical practices to implement such a waiver? Will we need to consult an attorney to draw up the waiver for a fee, or can we borrow the language used by [redacted for anonymity]? Thank you.

Should libraries that have Notaries Public on staff have notary liability insurance for those library staff? Or would that be covered by the library's general liability insurance? We don't want our staff who are providing Notary Public services to be putting themselves at risk.

Our library offers a variety of business services such as copying, scanning, emailing, and faxing, and we also have staff on hand to assist patrons with these services. We often have patrons request assistance with scanning and emailing or faxing sensitive documents including checks (with banking/routing numbers), driver’s licenses, Social Security cards, or other financial/legal documents.

I am wondering:

a) What responsibility do library staff have to inform a patron if we think they may be in the process of communicating with and sending documents to a scammer? How do we protect our patrons from scams/fraud while also respecting their privacy?

b) How liable is the library/library staff if a patron is scammed after library staff use library resources to send documents/information that played into the scam, even at the patron's request?

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.

The library would be responsible for cataloging the items, tracking their circulation, and applying for grants to help with funding.

The local visiting nurses have volunteered to handle the distribution of equipment, and are willing to continue if the library takes it over from the church.

The library's director and trustees are concerned about insuring the library to protect it in the event that someone gets hurt using a piece of equipment and there is the possibility of a lawsuit. They talked to their insurance agent and the company they use would not cover this.

A discussion came up about starting a separate LLC for the medical loan closet that the library would be openly affiliated with.

Would it be possible for a public library to set up a separate LLC to do this?