Use of Library Facilities

POLICY:
In keeping with the American Library Association's Library Bill of Rights, meeting space at the Park Ridge Public Library is available to non-profit organizations engaged in educational, cultural, intellectual or charitable activities serving the Park Ridge community on a reservation basis.

All meetings must be open to the public.

No charge is made for the use of the meeting room.

In allowing use of Library meeting rooms, neither the Library nor its Board of Trustees endorse any position expressed by any group using the rooms.

RESERVATIONS
Reservations can be made by calling the Business Office between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Once a date and time is selected, applicants must complete a meeting room use application. Application forms. Applications should be returned to the Business Office no later than two weeks after the form is received. If the form is not returned within two weeks, the room will be released for another reservation. Completed applications are reviewed by the Library Director and returned to the applicant, with the Meeting Room Application Approval and Attendance Recording Form, indicating the status.

In order for the Library to obtain valid statistics of the use of our facilities, the Attendance Recording Form should be completed and return it to the Library not later than 1 week after the organization has used the meeting room.

Failure to give the Library notice of meeting cancellation may prevent future scheduling of rooms by that group.

ROOM CAPACITIES
Attendance at a meeting may not exceed the maximum number of people certified by the Fire Department as the occupancy limit for the room. Attendance Capacity:

• Large meeting room (1st floor) = 90 seated. If setup consists of a combination of tables and chairs, the limit is determined by the setup requested. See charts.
• Small meeting room (3rd floor) = 20.

ACCESSIBILITY
Meeting rooms are accessible to the disabled. All meetings must comply with current the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the applicant/organization is responsible for providing qualified interpreters or auxiliary aids to meeting attendees upon request. .

PRIORITIES FOR USE
Priorities for use of the meeting rooms are:

1. Library-sponsored meetings or programs
2. Library-related meetings or programs
3. Meetings sponsored by agencies of the City of Park Ridge
4. Educational, cultural, intellectual or charitable meetings or programs of organizations serving Park Ridge
5. Other meetings which in the opinion of the Library Director are appropriate to the Library.

Available in third floor meeting room:

chairs and board table	slide projector
DVD player /CD player/VCR	television
easel	overhead projector (transparencies)
LCD Projector (PC only, not Mac, user must provide laptop) ***	white board/ flip chart
projection screen	wireless connection (user will provide own laptop with wireless capability)

Because some electronic equipment requires Library staff setup and monitoring, use of this equipment (designated with ***) will require a $20 charge per reservation, payable in advance.

The LIbrary does not provide porter services for group meetings in the building nor storage space for their property.

POLTICAL MEETINGS
The Library's meeting rooms maybe used for political activities in conformance with City Ordinances related to an election, until one hundred days prior to the election, except for municipal or township election activities. Municipal or township election activities may be held until the petition filing deadline, which is seventy-one days before the election. After these deadlines, the meeting rooms may only be used for candidate forums when the following conditions are met:

1. All candidates are invited to attend.
   
2. The forum is sponsored by a non-partisan group.
   
3. Candidates for a particular office must agree in writing to attend the forum or indicate in writing that they do not oppose the forum being held even though they are unable to attend.

1. Only one meeting is allowed per quarter. Meeting room requests cannot be submitted more than three months in advance.

2. No admission fee may be charged, or donations collected, in the Library for programs presented.

3. The Library is not responsible for equipment, supplies, materials or any personal possessions owned by those sponsoring or attending meetings held at the Library.

4. THE USE OF THE MEETING ROOMS MAY NOT INTERFERE WITH NORMAL OPERATION OF THE LIBRARY.

5. The Library reserves the right to change a scheduled meeting date which conflicts with Library sponsored programs. The Library will contact the appropriate officer of the organization as early as possible to arrange rescheduling. The Library accepts no responsibility for any meeting-related expenses.

6. Publicity is the responsibility of groups booking meeting rooms. Groups must provide and produce their own publicity. The Library will post any suitable publicity on the 2nd floor community bulletin board only as determined by Library Administrator. Groups must be identified on all publicity as sponsoring the meeting. Publicity may not imply that the Park Ridge Public Library is in any manner connected with the meeting except for providing meeting space.

   Wording must appear on all publicity for meetings in the meeting rooms: "Except for providing meeting space, the Park Ridge Public Library is not in any manner connected with this meeting, and neither the Library nor the Board of Trustees endorse any position expressed by the group."

7. With the exception of the Friends of the Library, organizations meeting in the Library may not use the Library as a mailing address or the Library telephone number to conduct their business. Keys to the building are not available to user groups.

8. Non-alcoholic beverages and prepared food may be served in the 1st floor meeting room, subject to the approval of the Library Director. Major food preparation is not permitted except at designated Library events. There is a $20.00 fee, payable in advance, for the privilege of serving food.

   Beverages or foods which may stain the carpeting, such as red punch, should not be served. Food is not permitted outside the meeting rooms.

   There is a small kitchen with a sink and counter adjacent to the first floor meeting room which may be used as a work area and for cleanup. The group must provide all necessary supplies, coffee pots, serving pieces, utensils, cleaning supplies etc. (Library supplies may not be used for the event.) The group is responsible for leaving the room in the condition in which it was found. Charges will be assessed for damages or extra cleanup required.

   Individual, covered beverages may be brought to the 3rd floor meeting room. No food or beverages may be served.

9. The Library is a smoke-free environment. Smoking is not permitted in the Library or within fifteen feet of the entrances.

10. Each participating group is responsible for the cost of repairing or replacing any item that is damaged during its assigned time through careless or malicious use. THe cost of damage will be determined by the Library Director.

11. Groups of persons under eighteen years of age must be accompanied by a responsible adult.

12. For the safety of our patrons only staff are allowed to rearrange or set up equipment and furnishings

Failure to comply with the above Library Meeting Room policy may prohibit future use of the rooms.