Recently Asked Questions (RAQs)

Could we use any of our budgetary funds as collected through our tax levy and/or funds received from donations (restricted and unrestricted) to pay for food (dry goods, fresh produce and/or fruit) and PPE's which would be given freely to the public/patrons some of which may not be from our community (we would not ask them for a library card or ID)?

If so, could it be considered a program or if not what other budgetary designation would you suggest it be given?

We are an association Library that uses a school ballot to levy funding. We have received a bill from the school for 2 years now that a landowner has had their taxes re-accessed back 3 years and now we owe the school money. Last year we paid it because it seemed like bad luck and there weas court documents saying the back money was owed. It seems to becoming a trend as another large land owner/company has done the same and now we owe again this year, and it's increasing. How do we continue to handle this trend and do we owe them?

I need clarification about the IRS regulations on 501c3 organizations. A local political group asked to use our meeting room space for a 'meet the candidates' event, a library trustee thinks this is not compliant with the "The Restriction of Political Campaign Intervention by Section 501(c)(3) Tax-Exempt Organizations" https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/charitable-organizations/the-restriction-of-political-campaign-intervention-by-section-501c3-tax-exempt-organizations

I think our meeting room policy is very out of date and restricting access to the room based on content of the meeting violates 1st amendment rights, as outlined by ALA: https://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/interpretations/meetingrooms

No staff are involved in this event, we have not helped plan it and it was made clear on all the publicity the political group put out that the library is only the venue, we are not hosting, this is not a library program.

Thank you!

Our public, municipal library wants to seek funding through a school board levy.  The boundaries of the school district we’re petitioning are outside (but include) our municipality.  Are there any legal impediments to a public, municipal library going on the school district ballot?  We have reached out to New York State Ed’s Division of Library Development and NYLA, but seek a lawyer's perspective.