- Mission Statement
- Roles Chosen by the Fairlee Public Library to Meet the
Service Needs of Our Community
- Materials Selection
-
Other Policy
- Fairlee Public
Library Policy and Guidelines for Public Access Computer Use
- Challenged Materials
-
Facilities Policy
- Building Fire
Exits and Automatic Door Openers Policy -- Facility Opening &
Closing
- Policy for Use of
the Fairlee Public Library Meeting Room
V. Fairlee Public Library Policy
and Guidelines for Public Access Computer Use
- Purpose:
In accordance with the Fairlee Library's goal of providing access
for its patrons to a wide variety of print and non-print materials, some
materials are being made available in electronic formats. Materials will be
selected by the professional staff, in accordance with the library's Materials
Selection Policy. Access to these materials shall not be restricted because of
a patron's age, race, religion, gender or socio-economic status. The library
will provide direct, limited (see IV.) access to the Internet through the
library computer.
- Disclaimer:
The Fairlee
Library assumes no responsibility for information found by electronic access,
which patrons might find to be inaccurate, offensive, and/or illegal. The
library will not be responsible for any charges made by a patron to Internet
services. The library assumes no responsibility for the work you may generate
on the computer, or for any damage to the programs you may use.
For those who like it technical: all users agree to
hold FPL harmless for any and all users of the claims, losses, damages,
obligations or liabilities, directly or indirectly related to the use of the
Internet. FPL will assume no liability for monetary loss, indirect, special,
punitive, or consequential damages, nor any liability to any third
party.
Be a careful information consumer. Material placed on the
Internet by individuals does not have to be accurate. Consider the source of
any information you find, before you make decisions based on the
material.
Parents concerned about what their children may find on the
Internet are encouraged to join them in their on line sessions. The library
does not act in loco parentis.
The library upholds and affirms the
right of each individual to have access to constitutionally protected material.
We ask all users to be respectful of future users. This includes removing all
paperwork generated by a session, and logging off the Internet at the end of
the session.
- Eligibility to use
the Fairlee Library computer
- Patrons must be in good standing, owing no fines, and
having no violations of the guidelines for computer use.
- . Patron must have read, understood and signed the
Computer User Registration.
- Users who have little or no computer and/or Internet
searching experience may make special arrangements to receive training (See VI.
F.). The library staff is available to answer basic questions but cannot spend
more than 15 minutes per patron to instruct or assist during regular library
hours.
- Acceptable Access
and Excluded Uses
- World Wide Web may
be accessed.
- Specifically
excluded from access are chat rooms, bulletin boards, and the library's e-mail
account.
- Word processing
programs, which are not on-line but in the computer, may be used.
- Users may not
interfere with library files, may not go into DOS, and may not exit
Windows.
- Users shall respect
the policies, rights and conventions of all the organizations and individuals
who use the Internet, shall not perform mass unsolicited mailings, and shall
not access any systems for which access has not been authorized. (i.e. No
Hacking)
- The library will not
provide fax service. Nearby public access fax is available at local
businesses.
- Users may not
conduct commercial activity on the library terminals, including but not limited
to operating a business for personal gain.
- User may not
misrepresent oneself as another user.
- Users may not use
the library terminals to engage in illegal activity of any kind.
- Library staff
reserves the right to interrupt and end a computer session that is becoming
disruptive or creating a disturbance.
- Saving
information from on-line sessions
- No downloading to
the library hard disk is permitted.
- New, IBM formatted,
3.5" diskettes, may be purchased from the circulation desk, to receive
information you may want to download from the Internet. If the diskette's cost
is prohibitive for a patron, a recycled diskette can be obtained from the
librarian, subject to supply on hand.
- Patrons who need to
bring their own diskettes in order to work with ongoing projects, must present
the diskette to the library staff BEFORE inserting it in the computer, so staff
can run it through a virus scanning program.
- Printing--Users may
print from the display according to instructions. A per page fee will be
charged for any material printed through the library's printer. This fee covers
the cost of paper, ink cartridges, and printer maintenance. Students may
receive up to 10 pages free for school / study use.
- Reserving and
Using Computer Time
- Advance registration
is recommended, but not required, pending review of actual demand.
- Time may be reserved
in the special schedule at the circulation desk, in blocks of 30 or 60 minutes,
up to one hour per week, and may be reserved up to one week in advance.
- Reservations may be
made by phone, during library hours. If reservation requests are left on the
answering machine, patrons should call during library hours to confirm
availability of the requested time slot.
- Cancellations should
be called in to the library, as soon as you realize you cannot keep your
scheduled appointment.
- Late arrival--If a
scheduled user arrives more than 10 minutes after reserved time was to start,
without a warning call to tell the librarian of late arrival, the reservation
will be invalid. In such a case, the computer can be used by the first
qualified person present who wants to do so. If no one wants to use the time,
the reserved patron who arrives late may use the computer to complete their
original time block.
- If you require
training, you may reserve time during a FPL training session, or you can borrow
instructional books and videotapes to learn the basic skills, or receive
training of your choosing from another source.
- Priority of
Library Business
- The Fairlee Library
has two computers as of this writing, one for public and one for staff.
- In the event that
one computer is out of service, and the Library staff needs to use the
computer, staff will have priority and may interrupt a user courteously,
requesting that the user get to a convenient stopping point within about 5
minutes, so that library business can be conducted. Reasonable attempts will be
made to minimize such interruptions.
- Compliance with
Copyright laws--All copyright laws must be observed.
- Public Domain --
much material on the Internet is available for all users, and can be copied or
distributed as the user chooses.
- Copyrighted material
-- No one may copy any computer program, documentation or other material unless
it is in the public domain.
- What it means : It
is a mistake to believe that if a work has no copyright notice, it is not
copyrighted. In fact, everything from April 1, 1989 is copyrighted by the owner
or author whether it has a copyright notice or not. All Internet users must
assume that a work is copyrighted, unless otherwise specified by the author.
There are some documents published on the Internet which state that they have
been dedicated to the public domain, or that use for nonprofit purposes is
permitted by the copyright holder. If the author of a work has explicitly
granted it to public domain, anyone who stumbles upon it can use, take, or copy
without giving credit to the owner. If use for nonprofit purposes is granted,
use may be made as specified in the document. A case may be made for "fair use"
of Internet materials, just as one may make a claim of "fair use" for print and
audiovisual materials which may be reproduced for the purposes of criticism,
comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, research, etc.. Four tests of
"fair use" should be used as guidelines :
- Is it to be used for nonprofit educational
purposes?(Yes)
- Is the type of material to be used primarily factual
and not highly creative material?(Yes)
- Is the amount of material copied significantly less
than the entire document?(Yes)
- Will the impact of your use of the material greatly
affect the market of the copyrighted material?(No).
If your answers to these four questions match the ones
in parentheses above, then you probably have a good case for making a claim of
"fair use". Also, frequently a user may contact the author of a work and be
granted permission to use it. Requesting permission is not difficult and often,
access to works on the Internet is granted easily and can avoid costly legal
hassles.
- Considerate and
Careful Use
- All users, reserved
or walk-in, must sign in at the circulation desk.
- Headphones must be
used whenever using programs which produce sound.
- NO FOOD OR DRINK is
allowed at the computer station.
- Hands should be
washed before using the computer.
- Any diskettes or CD
ROMs should be handled with care, and should not be stored near the windows or
heater.
- When users are done
with their Internet connection, they should "disconnect" from the Internet
only, according to the instructions provided.
- Patrons should NOT
shut the computer off, nor exit from Windows.
- If two or more
people are using the computer together, their time block still counts as that
for one individual.
- Groups are expected
to talk quietly, when it is necessary to talk.
- The librarian has
the right to limit the number of people sitting or standing near the computer
work station if the session presents a disturbance.
- Technical
Difficulties
- Library staff are
not computer technicians, but will try to be helpful.
- Basic guidelines and
manuals will be available at the computer station to deal with common
problems.
- If there is any
equipment malfunction, library staff should be alerted.
- If damage occurs
which is due to careless use, or from failure to notify the staff, repair costs
will be charged to the user. In the case of minors, the user's parent or
guardian will be responsible for such costs.
- Unauthorized Use
and Vandalism
- Users who are found
to have violated the guidelines will lose their privileges.
- Anyone who causes
malicious damage to the computer will be subject to prosecution.
- Assessment of
penalties for loss of privilege will be determined on a case by case basis, at
discretion of library staff and Board of Trustees, as needed.
- Appeals to the
suspension or restriction of privileges will be heard by the Board of Trustees,
at their next scheduled meeting.
- XII. Keeping
Current
This policy shall be reviewed at least annually, to be sure
that it is up to date, and to address any new problems or insights which will
enhance computer use at FPL.
VI. Challenged
Materials
Occasional objections regarding materials may occur despite the
care taken to select materials. The Board of Trustees support the principles of
intellectual freedom. The established procedure listed below will follow an
individual's or group's request for reconsideration of materials.
All complainants shall be informed of the materials selection
policy and referred to the library director. The library director will discuss
the selection policy and procedure with the complainant without commitment. If
the complainant is not satisfied:
" The complainant will be invited to
file his / her objections in writing, and will be given a "Request for
Reconsideration of Materials" form.
Only written complaints will receive
further consideration. This is to assure clarity of the nature of the
complaint.
Procedure for review of selections: (to be carried out by
the library director)
- Inform the complainant of the materials selection policy and
make no commitments.
- If the complainant wishes further consideration of his / her
objection to the library material in question, he / she must submit a written
"Request for Reconsideration of Library Materials" form to the library
director.
- Inform other Fairlee Library staff members, volunteers, and
Board of Trustees that a challenge has been made.
- The challenged material will be kept on the shelves during
the reconsideration process.
- Upon receipt of the completed form, it will be presented to
the Chairperson of the Board of Trustees so that the request may be
incorporated into the agenda of the next regularly scheduled board
meeting.
- Prior to the next regularly scheduled board meeting that
follows a meeting where a reconsideration request has been on the agenda, the
library director and the Board will: read, view, or listen to the material in
its entirety; check general acceptance of the material by reading reviews and
consulting recommended lists; determine the value of the material to the
collection.
- The library director and the Board will present a written
response to the complainant.
- The complainant may request an appeal within 30 days of
notification which will be heard at an open meeting in accordance with open
meeting law.
- The Board of Trustees will announce its decision concerning
the appeal at the next regularly scheduled meeting after the open meeting.
VII. Facilities
Policy
The purpose of this policy is to protect and preserve the
structural and aesthetic quality of the facility and furnishings.
It
shall be the policy of the Library that there will be no articles of any nature
affixed in any manner to the walls, woodwork, furniture, stacks, ceilings, or
windows without prior Board of Trustee approval at a regular meeting.
Notices, papers, posters, labels, etc. will be applied only to bulletin
boards or displayed in provided frames.
This policy will be
disseminated to all volunteers, and to any individual/group given permission to
use the Library space outside of regular business hours. (Adopted June 18,
2002)
VIII. Building Fire Exits and
Automatic Door Openers Policy -- Facility Opening & Closing
The purpose of this policy is to ensure compliance with State
Fire Codes and amend any existing policy.
This policy will be disseminated to all volunteers and to any
individual/group given permission to use the Library space outside of regular
business hours.
It shall be the policy of the Fairlee Library that the
individual responsible for opening the facility for the public's use, will
first unlock the main entrance; secondly unlock the deadbolt lock on the adult
room exterior door. (The lock on the door handle should remain locked, the
handle will still open the door.) The third exterior emergency exit, through
the storage area off the juvenile room, has a handle that opens from the
interior even when locked. This will facilitate the egress paths available for
emergency exiting.
To maintain the handicap door operation optimally, it shall be
the policy to turn on the units (press the toggle switch up) when opening the
Library and shut off the units (center the toggle switch) when closing the
Library. (Adopted June 18, 2002, Amended January 14, 2003)
Policy for Use of the Fairlee Public
Library Meeting Room
The purpose of this policy is to establish the parameters for
the use of this facility by other than staff.
There will be NO alcoholic beverages of any kind.
Non profit organizations, when providing proof of this status
upon request, will not be charged for use of the space.
Other organizations, including private individuals, will be
charged a fee of $50.00 per use.
It is expected that all groups will clean the area after use. If
the Library must clean up, an additional $20.00 will be charged. (Adopted
10/8/02)
Library Policies - Page
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