Recently Asked Questions (RAQs)

[Note; the text of this question was edited to remove the precise dates of scheduled election and notice.]

Executive Order 202.13 states:

"Circulation, filing, and collection of any designating petitions, or independent nominating petitions for any office that would otherwise be circulated or filed pursuant to the Election Law, Education Law or any other consolidated law for any office commencing March 31, 2020 are hereby postponed.

Any school board, library board, or village election scheduled to take place in April or May of 2020 is hereby postponed until at least June 1, 2020, and subject to further directive as to the timing, location or manner of voting for such elections."

My question is: our legal notices had been published indicating an open trustee position and petition deadlines were due March XX (none were filed) and the budget vote is April XX. The question is do we have to do a legal notice that the vote is postponed and do new legal notices once we have a date? At the same time can we reopen the opportunity for people to file a petition to run for the board?

Our library is considering adding a circulating telehealth kit to our collection for patron use. With the pandemic and telemedicine being the current norm, the goal is to fill a perceived need within our community. The proposed kit would include medical supplies including a blood pressure cuff, pulse oximeter, a forehead thermometer, and a bag to hold the equipment. My question concerns any disclaimers that would be necessary to add to the kit as well as liability issues for the library if we were to implement this.

We are a library that is a hybrid government agency (special taxing district) and a 501(c)3. Does being a 501(c)3 override local gov’t agency status as far as applying for the CARES PPP? We've reached out to several attorneys and even the SBA and we get opposite answers. Help!

I have an instructor who asked if it would be violating copyright infringement if she shares articles from her personal Continuing Education Units (CEU) account subscription with her students as class reading assignments.

See Cole's thoughts below on the top 10 actions a NY library board can take to foster a library's mission and ensure its viability during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.