Meeting Room:
The primary function of the meeting room is to provide a space for library sponsored programming. Community groups engaged in educational, cultural, intellectual, charitable, or social activities may apply to use the meeting room. An application form and procedure for requesting the room is attached.
The meeting room may be used during normal library business hours. Groups may reserve the room for two meeting times in any one month.
Group size is limited to the legal occupancy of the room.
All meetings and gatherings must be open to the public.
No admission fee may be charged for a program or event. Exceptions include fees that are used for the purchase of supplies used during a program, such as a craft workshop. Such fees shall not prevent a person from attending a program.
The library does not advocate or endorse the viewpoints expressed by meeting room users.
The consumption of alcoholic beverages and gambling is prohibited on library grounds.
Evening meetings must end 15 minutes prior to the library closing.
Applicants are responsible for room setup and for returning all chairs and tables to their original location. No undue burden shall be placed upon library staff for room clean up.
Failure to comply with room regulations as described in the application and this policy will result in the forfeiture of meeting room privileges for 6 months.
Consideration of Room Use by For-Profit entities
In the spirit of good will, business leaders in the community may wish to share their knowledge for educational purposes to establish or maintain their standing in the community. While it is recognized that additional business may result indirectly from conducting such a session, the meeting room shall not be used for the primary purpose of soliciting or conducting business. For-profit businesses will not be permitted to use the meeting room until they have applied for and received approval from the Board of Trustees. Approval of presentations will depend on the following criteria:
- The presenter or business will complete an application form and submit it to the Board of Trustees for approval.
- The primary purpose of the meeting should be educational or cultural in an area where the presenter can be deemed a subject matter expert.
- The presentation must be appropriate for the community serviced by the Hillsdale Library.
- No direct solicitation of business may be made by the presenter nor by any staff of the for-profit business at the meeting
- Presentations of an artistic nature will be permitted to sell items as an ancillary function of the presentation, (i.e.; artists selling paintings, authors selling books or performers selling CD’s.)
- Presenters and/or their staff may not solicit personal information from attendees, such as name, address or phone number either directly or through mandatory attendance sheets, sign-up sheets, business card collection, etc. Presenters may make business cards available and attendees are permitted to voluntarily provide information on their own.
- Advertisements for the meeting should explicitly state that the session is for educational/cultural purposes and that business will not be directly solicited at the meeting.
- Copies of these guidelines should be posted in a visible spot in the meeting room and a copy should be provided to all attendees at the meeting. Violations of any of the terms of this policy should be reported to the library staff immediately.
- The Library and the Board of Trustees are not responsible for the content of any presentation.
There are two rooms designated for use by individuals or groups on the upper level. The use of study rooms is regulated.
Registration - Users must register at the main circulation desk. Time may be reserved up to one week in advance. Failure to sign-in within 10 minutes of the reserved time will result in the forfeiture of the reservation and the room will be open to other users.
Time Limitations - Users are permitted up to one hour of use after signing in at the main desk. Provided that no one else is waiting to use the room, the room may be used beyond the one hour time limit to a maximum of three hours per day.
Library Priority - Library sponsored activities, including the adult Literacy Volunteers of America and test proxies for distance learning courses will take precedence over all other uses.
Penalty for misuse of library - Violations of general library conduct will result in the forfeiture of study room use for one month.
The children’s story time room is used by library staff to conduct story times for children. It may also be used for other library sponsored activities. When the room is not in use by staff parents and/or guardians may use the room to read quietly with their children. This room may not be reserved as a quiet study room.
The Local History Room contains books, newspapers, maps, and ephemera primarily related to the history of Hillsdale. Bergen County and New Jersey history collections are also housed in this room.
Users of the local history collection must sign the register.
Photocopies may be made at the discretion of the library staff. Portions of the collection may not be photocopied due to the fragile condition of many items.
The Local History Room is not to be used as a third study room.
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Policy adopted by the Board of Trustees August 8, 2005.
Policy revised by the Board of Trustees September 10, 2007.
Policy revised by the Board of Trustees February 12, 2008.
The Board reserves the right to revise any of its policies at any time.