Recently Asked Questions (RAQs)

Several of the library's board members feel that it is illegal for the library to sell anything other than books and keep the money. They believe that the library cannot "ask for money". That function (selling items, asking for money, etc) is a function of the Friends group. We (the library board) can accept donations and NYS law indicates that we (the board) can sell books and keep the money but we cannot sell anything else, even if it is a gift basket that contains mostly books.

Is this true? Does this hold true for partnering with another non profit organization nearby who has a small gift shop? Can we (library board not the Friends) supply the gift shop and receive a portion of the profits?

The Friends do raise money for the library but it is difficult to pass this duty on to the Friends because it is difficult for them to part with money for the library board's needs. Hence our desire to do things on our own.

Any help with the rules regarding selling would be greatly appreciated!

We have a question that relates to the intersection of New York state level library privacy laws (https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/CVP/4509) and FERPA. Our campus has a newish system that is attempting to correlate student actions and activities with academic success and retention. As such, it could be helpful to include things like visits to the writing center, appointments with academic advisors, and also library activities, such as whether a class came in for a library information literacy session or whether a student made an appointment for a library one-on-one consultation. FERPA lets institutions share academically related information within certain bounds.

We are wondering what the privacy balance is here given that the information would stay in-institution, but not in-library. Here's what we are considering doing:

1) Noting in the system which classes had a library session(s). Within the system, that would identify individual students within those classes.
2) putting an opt-in statement on our one-on-one research appointment form and if the student consents, then providing to system the student name, appointment date/time, and course that the help was for (but not anything about the specific content of the appointment).

Have we crossed any lines here? Do we even need the opt-in statement? Is this something clear or fuzzy/grey? What should we be considering that we haven't thought of? Thanks.

A teacher would like to reproduce an entire article from a published magazine. They state that because it is only 10% of the entire magazine, it falls under fair use. My interpretation has been that it is 10% of the article, since the article is a published work on its own.

This question has 2 parts: 

1. Public Libraries often show movies/films under the auspices of a public viewing license. A question arose regarding ADA compliance: Does the film have to be shown with closed captioning? What if closed captioning is not an option.

2. When a program is given in a public library does a deaf interpreter have to be provided for every public program? OR is there a time-frame of notification - that is to say, if the library is notified an individual expecting to attend a program requires a deaf interpreter, one must be provide. What is considered an acceptable time-frame of notification? Should this be posted - if so where is it required: Website? 

Thank you for your assistance in this matter.

What laws impact a library’s next-door-neighbor relationships?  Are there best practices for neighbor disputes?