Top Ten Risk Management Exercises For Governing Boards of Libraries & Cultural Institutions During the 2025 Federal Shift

Question

Early 2025 has brought changes to stability of certain federal programs, funding, and governance. This instability is creating concern about access to grants, federal programs, and legal frameworks. What can our board do to address this?

Answer

2025 has INDEED started off with a great deal of instability to federal programs, funding, and governance. In this answer, we’ll call this phenomenon the “2025 Federal Shift.”[1]

Evaluating DEI Internship Programs

Question

Our organization has for many years now used a “DEI” internship program to bring people from under-represented communities into the library profession. With the new directives coming from the POTUS and various agencies in January 2025, should we stop this program?

Answer

Should your institution stop a program designed to attract people from populations under-represented in librarianship to librarianship? NO.[1]

Should your institution submit its DEI program for careful and routine evaluation for legal compliance and effectiveness? ALWAYS.

Summary and Analysis of Potential Impact of January 2025 POTUS Executive Orders on Libraries Served by the ESLN

Question

You have requested my expedited input regarding the potential impact on ESLN member organizations of the 33 executive orders issued in the first week of the second term of President Donald Trump, which began January 20, 2025.

The nine regional “reference and research library resources” systems comprising the Empire State Library Network serve:

Answer

SUMMARY

The flurry of executive orders issued at the start of the 2025 POTUS term creates many immediate and emphatic changes to federal executive policy. Many of these orders also lay the groundwork for further changes, many of which could directly impact the libraries and library-containing organizations listed above.

Open Meetings Law and end of NYS' Emergency Status

Question

First question: With the expiration of the Executive Orders on June 24th, 2021, including the Order modifying the requirements of the Open Meetings Law, are libraries back to the "old way" of conducting trustee meetings?

Answer

First question: Yes...with the expiration of the Executive Orders on June 24th, including the Order modifying the Open Meetings law,[1] things are "back to normal."

Or, as the Committee on Open Government, the authority on the State's Open Meetings Law (OML), put it:

Open Meetings Law and COVID

Question

A member of my board of trustees would like for us to meet in person. There would be 9 people in the room. They wanted to know if allowing the meeting to be simultaneously on Zoom would satisfy the requirements of open meetings law even though only one member of the public would be able to be physically present in order to stay under the 10-member cap for small gatherings.

Answer

Since the onset of the pandemic, we have had two questions about the impact of Executive Orders on the Open Meetings Law.

The first question, back in March 2020 (remember March 2020?  Ugh.), led to this advice:

[2020 Pandemic Date Specific] New Governor Proclamation and Elections

Question

The Gov has put out his new proclamation in regards to votes. At [our school district public library] our vote has always been separate from the school vote but the gov's doc reads that our only option is to have the vote with the school or have it in Sept. Sept would not work since our fiscal year is July to June.

Answer

As a prelude, readers may want to take a look at an earlier COVID-19-era “Ask the Lawyer” about library elections postposed per Executive Order 202.12, which ends with this promise:

“If and when we get an update or “further directives,” we’ll post any update to this answer.”

[2020 Pandemic Date Specific] Elections and Executive Order 202.13

Question

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

Executive Order 202.13 states:

Answer

This question is from a school district public library.  Before answering it, I called the library director who sent it in.

Why?  Well, first, I wanted to introduce myself.  When a question has a lot of nuance and potential long-term ramifications, I like the member to know the answer comes from a real human being, not just a faceless attorney in Buffalo, NY.

[2020 Pandemic Date Specific] Executive Order 202 and NY Open Meetings Law

Question

Can you please explain the clause below found in Governor Cuomo's Executive Order dated 3/13/2020. It reads:

“Suspension of law allowing the attendance of meetings telephonically or other similar service:

Answer

I have a phrase I use in my office to remind my team (and me) to be diligent, but always play it cool: “Quick work is [not such very good[1]] work.”