Recently Asked Questions

Could you please provide the effective date of 8 CRR-NY 90.2?

Are all public libraries required to publish their budgets online on their websites?

I am reaching out to request a legal opinion regarding the roles and responsibilities of library staff in supporting board fundraising efforts, as well as the permissible use of library digital platforms for fundraising activities. As a New York association library, we strive to adhere to state guidelines and ethical standards and seek clarity on the following specific matters:

Staff Involvement in Fundraising
Are there any legal restrictions or guidelines that would limit or prohibit our library staff from directly or indirectly assisting in fundraising efforts organized by the library board? We are interested in understanding any relevant employment or nonprofit regulations that would guide staff participation in these activities.

Use of Library’s Website and Facebook Account for Fundraising
Can the library board legally use the library’s official website and existing Facebook account to promote or facilitate board-led fundraising campaigns? We would like to ensure that these actions comply with any applicable state laws and nonprofit guidelines that might apply to public association libraries in New York.

Creation of a Library Board Facebook Account for Fundraising
If the above is permissible, is it also acceptable for the board to establish a separate Facebook account specifically for fundraising purposes on behalf of the library? We are particularly concerned with understanding the necessary distinctions (if any) between a board account and the library’s official social media presence.

Your legal guidance on these questions will be invaluable in helping our board make informed, compliant decisions about our fundraising strategies and staff involvement. If any additional information is required for this analysis, please let me know.

Thank you for your attention to these matters. We look forward to your advice.

A former employee who was fired for cause was denied unemployment benefits from DOL and has appealed the decision. Our board has been advised by our outside HR provider to not have contact with the former employee to make sure they don’t provide any support for the appeal or a legal claim. Is that a valid concern?

Our association library is considering changing some librarian positions from salaried “professional” to hourly. Is that legal?

We have an archive in our Library. We recently got a large donation of research that was used by the donor in the process of researching a book (we have the book in our catalog).

We were hoping the research was primary and original, but upon review, it largely consisted of:

• PDFs of full books taken from Google Books 
• PDFs of book excerpts taken from Google Books
• PDFs of articles with no identifying publication information
• PDFs/Word Documents with excerpts copied and pasted from websites and articles without attribution

This set off major alarm bells!

To complicate things, we have been so busy running our institution, our policies have not been updated to address concerns about “born digital” donations. And of course, we want to keep up a good relationship with the donor, who is a local author.

Is there a disclaimer or notice we can put on the online repository to protect us from potential copyright lawsuits? Is this a situation where every PDF book and document should be researched first to determine if it is in the public domain or protected by fair use? Should we simply refuse to put any of those documents online due to the risk?

Sincerely,
Discombobulated about Donations