1. Board of Library Trustees Policy Manual

2. The Policy Manual Appendices are linked below here so that you can find the latest versions of these American Library Association (ALA) statements.

APPENDIX A Freedom to Read Statement (ALA)

APPENDIX B Freedom to View Statement (ALA)

APPENDIX C Library Bill of Rights (ALA)

APPENDIX D Access to Electronic Information, Services and Networks (ALA)

3. Library Privacy and Confidentiality Policy
To print out a copy, click here

The Winchester Public Library is dedicated to protecting the privacy and confidentiality of our patrons. Our policy complies with the Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 78, Section 7 (1994 edition):

“Part of the records of a public library which reveals the identity and intellectual pursuits of a person using such library shall not be a public record as defined by clause Twenty-sixth of section seven of chapter four.”
This policy extends to circulation records (borrowing records, registration records, reserves or fine records), interlibrary loan transactions, registration records, database search records and reference interviews. Except in cases involving the USA Patriot Act, no records can be made available to any inquiries, governmental or otherwise, unless a subpoena has been served by a court of competent jurisdiction and the library administration has consulted with legal counsel to determine if it is proper to release the requested information,

Our staff must support this policy of privacy and confidentiality; it is required by law and by the library’s long commitment to protecting a patron’s right to access information freely. In accordance with the law, the policy restricts our staff from disclosing information to the cardholder’s family or friends. This applies to the release of information to the parents’ of minors when the minor has their own library card. The Supervisor of the Public Records of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Carolyn Kelly MacWilliam, stated in May 1997,

“A public library may not disclose records which reveal a minor’s borrowing information to the minor’s parent, regardless of whether the parent is paying the fine on an overdue item or the parent has signed the child’s library card application form.”

We hope the responses to the following questions will further clarify how privacy laws might affect your library visit:

Q. I am returning these library materials for my family member/friend. Can you tell me what is left on the card?
A. No, we cannot disclose any information about the account.

Q. I am returning these overdue library materials for my family member/friend. Can I pay the fine?
A. Yes, you can pay the fine on library materials you have in hand; but all other information related to the library card account is confidential.

Q. I know my family member/friend has fines, can I pay them?
A. No, even though it may be a nice gesture, one’s library card is confidential.

Q. I do not have my family member/friend’s card but s/he has items out that need to be renewed. Can you renew them for me?
A. No, all transactions related to one’s account are confidential.

Q. Can I pick-up my family member/friend’s reserve?
A. Only if you have his/her card in hand. Without the card, our staff is unable to give you the reserve. It does not matter if you know what the item is (i.e. its title, the author or subject).

The following items cannot be used to pick-up a family member/friend’s reserve:

* A note of permission

* A phone call of permission

* A library card number written on a piece of paper or memorized by heart

* Another book checked out on the account the reserve is placed on

Q. My Child is under the age of 18, don’t I have the right to know the information related to his/her account?
A. No. A library card is confidential regardless of age or relationship.

Q. My spouse and I share everything, s/he would not mind if we had use of the same account. Please let me manage the account.
A. No. One’s card is confidential regardless of relationship.

Q. I forgot my library card. Will I be able to pick up a reserve item, take out library materials or manage my account?
A. Yes, as long as you have identification with a picture and current address, we can access your account. However, we cannot routinely accept identification in lieu of your card. The safest and most efficient way staff can serve you is with your library card, and presenting it is required.

Q. Can I renew library materials over the phone without my library card?
A. Once again, the easiest and most efficient way we can serve you is with your library card. We can renew a limited number of library items with its barcode number found either on the item or on the receipt. But without the library card number we cannot access the account itself.

To manage your account online, requires only your library card number and its Personal Identification Number (PIN). If you do not have a PIN, you can establish one online or ask the circulation staff to create one for you the next time you are at the library. We cannot assign you a PIN over the phone.

At times preserving confidentiality may be inconvenient. However, our democracy depends on the intellectual freedom privacy ensures. We will do our best to work with you. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated by the staff and the citizenry.

4. Winchester Public Library Meeting Room Policy (160.00 Meeting Room in the Trustees Policy Manual)

Purpose

The Winchester Public Library Board of Trustees makes its Meeting Rooms available to groups engaged in civic, educational, charitable, cultural, or intellectual activities having a substantial nexus to the Winchester community. At a minimum, such a nexus requires that any group seeking to use a Meeting Room provide a sponsor who resides in Winchester, Massachusetts and completes the appropriate application. In allocating the use of a Meeting Room, the Board of Trustees and Library staff shall not discriminate on the basis of the political or religious beliefs of applicant groups, or on any other constitutionally or statutorily prohibited basis.

However, the provision of meeting room space is not the primary mission of the Library, and must always be subordinate to the paramount need to provide a safe, peaceful, and respectful environment in which to read and study. No use of a Meeting Room will be allowed that is likely to disturb Library patrons in their customary use of Library facilities, impede Library staff in the performance of their duties, or endanger the Library building or collection. Use of a Meeting Room for Library purposes shall take precedence over all other uses.

A Meeting Room shall not be used for entrepreneurial or commercial purposes, for the solicitation of business, for profit or for fundraising. No goods or services shall be promoted, sold, or exchanged upon the premises or by sample, pictures, or descriptions.

Requirements for Room Reservations All groups using a Meeting Room shall complete, submit and, at the request of the Library staff, update an application on a written or online form approved by the Board of Library Trustees. Such a form shall incorporate by reference this policy and shall recite that the applicant group has received a copy of this policy and agrees to abide by the terms and conditions of this policy. The individual who signs the reservation form assumes responsibility for any personal injury or property damage resulting from their use of a Meeting Room and will be responsible for payment of any claims resulting therefrom.

Reservations shall be made through the office of the Library Director or by online application. Permission to use the room requires the approval of the Director or Assistant Director and groups requesting its use must check back within one week for confirmation. Approval of an online application will, in most cases, take less than one week. (Permission to use a Meeting Room does not imply permission to use any other room in the Library.) No group may reserve or use a Meeting Room unless it complies in all respects with the provisions of this policy and submits, in fully executed form, the application and indemnification agreement called for in this policy, and any insurance certificate requested pursuant hereto. No meeting room reservation shall be deemed complete until the Library staff receives a complete, signed original form (together, if applicable, with an original insurance certificate), or the Library receives the online application form.

Any false, misleading or incomplete statement on the application form shall be grounds to forbid the use of a Meeting Room by the applicant group.

The Board of Library Trustees and the Library staff reserve the right to reject a reservation request if the anticipated meeting is likely to be unreasonably disruptive to regular Library functions, too large for the applicable room capacity (75), disorderly, dangerous to persons or property, or in any other way inconsistent with or in contravention of any of the terms and conditions of this policy. In determining whether such a likelihood exists, the Board of Library Trustees and/or the Library staff may take into consideration the contents of the application form, the history of the group's meeting room use in the Library, the history of the group's use of meeting facilities elsewhere, and such other information as they may deem appropriate. The Board of Library Trustees reserves the right to determine, in its reasonable discretion, whether any proposed use of a meeting room will require a police detail or other extraordinary police protection, and if so the anticipated cost thereof. In making this determination, the Board of Library Trustees may take into consideration the contents of the application form, the history of the group's Meeting Room use in the Library, the history of the group's use of meeting facilities elsewhere, and such other information as such Board may deem appropriate, and may consult with the Chief of Police or his designee. If the Board of Library Trustees determines that such police protection will be reasonably necessary, the group seeking to reserve the use of a Meeting Room shall be required, as a condition of such reservation, to pay to the Board of Library Trustees by such date in advance of the meeting as the Board of Library Trustees reasonably sets, the anticipated cost of such police protection, and such sum shall be applied thereto, with any surplus being returned to the group after the meeting. The group shall be liable to the Board of Library Trustees and/or the Town of Winchester for any deficiency.

To ensure that non-Library groups have fair and equitable access to available dates for use of a Meeting Room, groups may not reserve the room:

* more than three months in advance of the program

* for more than one program in one month for the large Meeting Room and two programs in one month for the small Meeting Room

* for more than six programs in one calendar year without consent of the Library Director and the Board of Trustees

Reservations shall be accepted, subject to the provisions of this policy, in the order received. Failure to notify the library of cancellations may result in forfeiture of future bookings. Minors may not reserve a Meeting Room, nor can they serve as sponsors.

Groups should apply before the date of the proposed meeting by filling out a form available online or in the Administrative Office. The office is open Monday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., when the Library is open.

Rules for Use Use of a Meeting Room will be limited to the Library's regular operating hours. If the Director approves use of the room when the Library is closed, a charge will be levied for custodial service at rates established by the Town Personnel Board. Overtime is charged at half-hour increments with a minimum charge of one hour.

All meetings shall be open and free of charge to the public. No person shall be excluded from attendance except in order to comply with the occupancy limit applicable to a Meeting Room. A Meeting Room may not be used for profit-making activities or to solicit business, although incidental reference to publications or services is not prohibited if the basic purpose of the meeting is informational. If an attendance form or program registration form is used, it should clearly state whether or not the list of names will be used for sales calls. Attendees must be allowed to choose whether or not to give their names. Groups shall, at their own expense, procure any license or permit necessary for the conduct of their meetings.

Groups using a Meeting Room may arrange the available tables and chairs as they choose, provided that all pieces of furniture are returned to their original positions at the close of the meeting. Materials may not be attached to the walls.

Smoking and alcohol are prohibited. Arrangements may be made to serve coffee but the offering of any other refreshments requires the permission of the Director. The clean-up after a program is the responsibility of the group using a Meeting Room. Each group using a Meeting Room shall be responsible to ensure that the room is returned to the same condition after the meeting as it was prior to the meting. Failure to restore a Meeting Room to such prior condition shall render the group liable to the Board of Library Trustees for the cost of repair and clean-up and may result in forfeiture of future bookings.

The Library is not responsible for equipment, supplies, materials, or other items owned by a group and used by them at the Library. No storage is provided.

Under no circumstances may use of a Meeting Room interfere with the use of the Library by other patrons, the work of the Library staff or any other aspect of normal Library operation.

All persons attending a meeting in a Meeting Room shall comply with all requests by Library staff and, if applicable, the Winchester Police Department. Individuals who fail to comply will be required to leave the Library building. Groups who fail to comply, or whose leaders fail to comply, will be prohibited from using a Meeting Room.

Exceptions to this policy may be made at the discretion of the Board of Library Trustees as it deems in the best interest of the Library and the community.

Indemnification and Insurance

All groups using a Meeting Room shall execute and deliver a written undertaking in a form to be prescribed by the Board of Library Trustees by which such groups shall agree to hold the Board of Library Trustees, and the Town of Winchester, and all Library staff harmless from and to indemnify them against all costs, damages, losses, claims, and expenses incurred, directly or indirectly, as a result of such group's use of a Meeting Room. Such costs, damages, losses, claims, and expenses shall include, without limitation, any damage to a Meeting Room or any other part of the Library building, grounds or collection; the cost of employee overtime, if occasioned by the use of a Meeting Room; the cost of police protection, if deemed necessary by the Board of Library Trustees; and any claim asserted by any third person against the Board of Library Trustees, the Town of Winchester, and/or any Library staff on account of any alleged injury causally related to the meeting, together with defense costs including reasonable attorneys' fees.

The said written undertaking shall also constitute a release by the group and each and all of its members of any claim against the Board of Library Trustees, the Town of Winchester and the Library staff for any injury to persons or damage to property suffered by such group or any of its members during or as a result of the use of a Meeting Room, except insofar as such injury or damage is directly and solely caused by the negligence or intentional misconduct of any person belonging to or acting on behalf of the Board of Library Trustees, the Town government of the Town of Winchester or the Library staff

The Board of Library Trustees reserves the right to require any applicant group to supply a certificate of insurance, from an insurer licensed to do business in Massachusetts, in such amount and in such form as the Board of Library Trustees may reasonably deem appropriate, such amount not to exceed $1 million, naming the Board of Library Trustees and the Town of Winchester as an additional insured, and covering damage to the Library building, grounds and collection and injury to persons occasioned by the meeting. Such certificate shall evidence that the insurance it represents is not cancelable except on at least ten (10) days' written notice to the Board of Library Trustees. In the event of such cancellation, the meeting reservation shall be canceled unless the group forthwith substitutes a new insurance certificate meeting the aforesaid requirements.

Publicity In allowing a group to use a Meeting Room, the Board of Library Trustees and Library staff do not imply any endorsement of the group's beliefs, policies or program. No group shall in any of its publicity state or suggest that the Winchester Public Library, the Board of Library Trustees, the Town of Winchester or the Library staff sponsors or endorses the meeting, the group or any particular set of ideas.

Groups may identify the Library and provide its address in their publicity for the meeting, but may not give out the Library's telephone number or invite potential attendees to contact the Library for program information.

(March 24, 2009)

Art Gallery Meeting Room (Small Meeting Room) and Quiet Study Rooms Policy (section 160.10 Art Gallery/Meeting Room in the Trustees Policy Manual)

Two quiet study rooms are available on the mezzanine.  They are intended for use by one or two people and are equipped with a computer and a printer.  Reservations are accepted by the reference librarian no more than one month in advance.  Use of quiet study rooms is limited to two hours per day, two days per week.  Reservations will be cancelled if the user arrives more than 15 minutes late.  Users of the quiet study rooms need not be Winchester residents.

The small meeting room is available as a small group study room or a small public meeting room.  It is intended for groups of 3 to 10 people.  The room is not equipped with a computer or printer but wifi is available.  Reservations may be requested online or through the office of the Library Director.  The small meeting room is limited to two reservations per month, two hours per day.  Rules and regulations for use of the small meeting room as a public meeting room are the same as rules and regulations for the main meeting room.  Reservations will be cancelled if the user arrives more than 15 minutes late.  Use of the small public meeting room is limited to Winchester residents or those groups sponsored by a Winchester resident.

The small meeting room may be used for small group study of 3-10 people when the room is not otherwise reserved.  The group may gain admittance to the room for two hours per day, two days per week.  Inquiries are to be made at the circulation desk.  Users of the small meeting room for small group study need not be Winchester residents.

(March 24, 2009) (March 23, 2010)