Meeting Room Use

Adopted: 10.18.2021 | Revised: 00.00.0000

USE OF THE FINNEY COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY (FCPL) MEETING ROOM BY THIRD PARTY ORGANIZATIONS

The FCPL meeting room can be reserved up to sixty (60) days in advance and is available during normal operating hours. The primary purpose of the meeting room is for conducting FCPL programs and services, which will have first priority in scheduling. The secondary purpose of the meeting room is to provide community meeting spaces and for programming that aligns with the FCPL mission.

Meeting Room Use by Governmental Entities (County and local, state, and federal agencies), Nonprofit Entities, and Educational Institutions

• It is understood that accommodating governmental and educational entities requested use of the FCPL to provide free information and to deliver free services to the public is a core civic responsibility of public libraries and central to the FCPL
• FCPL does not require fees for governmental or educational entities use of the meeting room. Events must be free and open to the public.
• Requests for a recurring, permanent, or semi-permanent time and date should be forwarded to the Director or designee for review. These requests will be reviewed based on this policy.
• Nonprofit entities must provide reasonable evidence that the organization is classified as a 501(c)3 or equivalent designation for a nonprofit community group or educational institution. Such evidence may include a tax-exempt letter, website, or common knowledge (i.e., AAA, AARP, Early Learning Coalition, etc.), which may be provided by the Requestor or obtained by the Approver.

Meeting Room Use by For-Profit Entities or Individuals/Groups

• For-profit entities or individuals/groups are entitled to use the FCPL meeting room subject to the use fees outlined in the fee schedule. It is understood that such use may be for a private purpose and not open to the public. However, the Requestor may not charge admission fees or collect money from FCPL Patrons.

General Criteria

The FCPL meeting room shall not be used for meetings or programs that involve partisan politics.

• Private, for-profit organizations or individuals are prohibited from selling their services, distributing promotional materials/advertisements for their organizations or making referrals to a private, for-profit entity.

• A valid FCPL card is required to reserve the meeting room.

• Organizations or individuals may reserve the meeting room once per month, in order to provide fair access to the entire community. However, if the meeting room is not reserved, same day reservations may be permitted, given reasonable time for review and approval by the Director or designee, regardless of prior usage within the month.

• Cancellations must be reported to the FCPL 48 hours in advance of scheduled reservations. Failure to cancel with sufficient notice, twice, may lead to cancellation of all remaining reservations.

• Maximum time frame for single use of the meeting room is four (4) hours. Maximum capacity of the meeting room is 94 people.

• Meetings/Events must end fifteen (15) minutes prior to the FCPL’s closing time. Time limits must be adhered to. Meeting preparations and break down must be made within the overall meeting room availability timeframes. The meeting room is to be left in the same condition as it was found. The person or group using the room agrees to reimburse the FCPL for any and all costs for repair or any special cleaning that may be required and all damage that may be caused directly or indirectly to the Meeting Room or facilities by such use. Such costs will be charged to the contact person for the event.

• All requestors for use of the FCPL meeting room shall be required to complete a reservation request, which shall require the following information:

1. Name of Applicant and Organization

2. Applicant Contact Information (e.g., phone, e-mail, address)

3. Date(s) and Time Requested

4. Description of the Use

5. Setup and equipment needs (if applicable)

6. Additional requirements based on type of requestor

The Director or designee shall review, checking for consistency with this policy and ensuring that the dates requested are not in conflict with other approved or pending requests. If conflicts exist with the requested date(s), the Director or designee shall make all efforts to offer and accommodate the requestor on other dates, times.

Within three (3) business days from the receipt of a FCPL Meeting Room Use Request, notice of the decision to approve or deny a request shall be provided to the Requestor.