BARTLETT PUBLIC LIBRARY DISTRICT
BOARD OF TRUSTEES EMAIL COMMUNICATION POLICY

It is the goal of the Board of Trustees of the Bartlett Public Library District to keep all board members, as well as the Library Director, informed about matters related to the work of the Library Board. However, the Board must be mindful of the requirements imposed by the Illinois Open Meetings Act and the Local Records Act, particularly as they apply to communications among board members outside normal library meetings.

  1. Generally, Library Trustees shall not use email to conduct Library business. Email communication between the Board members is permitted on a limited basis for non-substantive matters such as:
  2. Email sent between and among trustees regarding such non-substantive matters shall be copied to the Library Director. There is no expectation of privacy for any messages sent or received by email.
  3. The Library Board finds that electronic "chat rooms" and "bulletin boards" are inherently detrimental to the open meetings process. The Board will not utilize such methods for Library communications or to conduct Library business.
  4. The Library Administration may provide information relating to library business to Board members using email. Any response form Board members regarding these communications must be sent only to the Library Administration (no "reply to all" responses). An appropriate record of these communications will be maintained in the district files to ensure compliance with current laws.
  5. A Board Member may send email to all other Board Members with items of passing interest provided that no response is requested or required. Such email messages should clearly state that no response should be made and should be copied to the Library Administration for storage. Board Members may also send email regarding the scheduling of committee meetings.
  6. Emails from the public to the Library Board will be copied to all Trustees and the Library Director. When emails from the public require a Board response, the President or his designee will respond and will copy the other Trustees and the Library Director.

 

Board of Trustees Email Communication Policy
Revised 4/13