Recently Asked Questions (RAQs)

Can a public library or library system use taxpayer revenue to engage in advocacy, hire a lobbyist, or pay dues to an organization doing advocacy/lobbying?

The expiration dates of our trustees’ terms are not properly staggered. Can this be corrected?

Background: Our Library Board has 11 trustees. When the Library was chartered in the 1950s, trustees were given 5-year terms with staggered expiration dates. Two terms expired in 1953, two in 1954, two in 1955, two in 1956, and three in 1957. In other words, there were five “classes”: four with two trustees each and one with three.

Over time, mistakes occurred and the terms are no longer balanced. Currently, four trustees’ terms expire in 2026, two in 2027, one in 2028, one in 2029, and three in 2030. While there are still five classes, they are no longer substantially equal. It may be possible to trace the errors in past records, but it is not clear that doing so would help resolve the issue.

We do not want to shorten the terms of current trustees. However, could future trustees be appointed to terms shorter than five years in order to restore the original distribution of four classes of two trustees and one class of three? Since our trustees are appointed by a municipality, we would need to coordinate with that body to make this adjustment if it’s even possible. The library’s charter and the board’s bylaws specify 5-year terms.

Any advice on how to proceed is greatly appreciated.

In the Municipal Ballot Votes for Library Funding in New York State manual (the “414 Manual”), it states that a Chapter 414 referendum “is not a new tax,” asserting that the funds remain a municipal appropriation. However, Chapter 414 of the Laws of 1995 appears to authorize voters to determine “how much to tax themselves” for library services, and the municipality is then required to levy and collect that amount annually as a separate line item on the tax bill.

Given that the municipality becomes the taxing authority responsible for collecting and remitting these funds to the library, does a successful 414 vote legally create a new or distinct tax obligation (as opposed to a continuation or adjustment of an existing municipal appropriation)?

In other words, how should the resulting levy be properly characterized under New York Education Law and municipal finance law, as a continuation of an existing appropriation or as a new dedicated tax established by voter approval?

Can employees volunteer at the library where they work, specifically in New York State?

We have had this come up quite often and the word has always been, employees cannot under any circumstances volunteer at the place they work. Since libraries have programming like holiday events outside of regular working hours, employees like to lend a hand but have been told they cannot.

The Fair Labor Standards Act from the US Department of Labor says that for nonprofits, employees may volunteer at their workplace, if it is work outside their regular duties. Our example, under FLSA, would be if a library page wants to help with our gardening. The gardening is outside their regular duties and can volunteer. If it was volunteering to shelve books, that wouldn’t be permitted.

We cannot find anything in state law or anywhere else that clarifies whether employees are permitted to volunteer outside their regular hours. This is especially critical for large events or for people that work at a circulation desk. They cannot leave their post to do anything else.

Hello,

We have had a huge increase in AI bots on our member library websites. My concern is that internal policies linked on member websites will be “learned” by AI and linked (cited) back to that member library. I’m concerned that members might have their Emergency Action Plan in their Personnel Policy Manual, and that financial controls could be used by ransomware hackers. We go by the following list to define internal and external policies: https://nyslibrary.libguides.com/Handbook-Library-Trustees/policy-checklist

Would it be a “good practice” to not post internal policies online? If there are a few internal policies that you feel should be posted online, would it be best to say online that you have the policy, but please contact the director (or library) for the file/print copy? That way, AI won’t be trained on the policy.

Thank you!