Library Policies
DISRUPTIVE PATRON POLICY
The purpose of the staff at the Hoyt Library is to assist and serve the public who utilize the resources of the Hoyt Library with professionalism and courtesy. It is expected that the library patron will conduct himself/herself with respect and courtesy to the library staff and other patrons. Unruly or disruptive behavior will not be tolerated in the library.
This behavior is defined as, but not limited to:
IRATE PATRONS
Patrons raising their voices, yelling or verbally assaulting staff and/or other patrons.
Patrons found to have physically defaced library materials and or library property.
Patrons violating public decency codes and basic standards of public conduct, including but not limited to: substance abuse, public indecency, physical altercations, and verbal altercations, and inappropriate use of library materials (i.e. Internet usage that is not permitted).
When a patron is disrupting
other patrons or library staff, library staff will:
1.
Kindly ask the patron to desist their behavior. A warning shall be given. This
verbal warning will be elaborated to
the library
director in a written incident report
2. The library director will contact the patron either in person, by telephone or mail to discuss the incident with the patron. The patron will be warned of the inappropriate behavior.
3. A repeat of the offense will constitute suspension of library privileges to be determined by the library director. Conduct that violates local, state and federal law shall be immediate grounds for suspension of library privileges. Conduct that does not violate law, but is socially unacceptable for library conduct is still grounds for suspension of library privileges to be determined by the library director.
Dealing with patrons that have suspended library privileges:
1. Patrons that
attempt to use or enter the Hoyt during a period of exclusion are to be reported
to the police. The
police are to
be summoned and informed of the prior action.
2. The library director will notify the police of people who have suspended library privileges, so that the police have a record of prior action.
3. If library staff believe the actions of a person constitute an immediate threat to Patrons or staff, the police will be called and no warning to the patron is necessary.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Community Room of the Hoyt Library provides an opportunity for bringing together the resources of the Library and the activities of the community. The room may be used by non-profit organizations and local groups for meetings of a civic, cultural, or educational need. It may not be used to promote candidates for office. The majority of the residents of the group meeting must be residents of the library’s service area. The library will not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, age, gender, national origin or handicap in providing space for public meetings. Meetings are to be conducted in procedure and content in accordance with all law abiding practices of federal, state and local guidelines.
Those organizations that are for profit may use the meeting room under the following conditions:
· In no way may the organization in question discriminate on the basis of race, religion, age, gender, national origin, or handicap.
· The organization in question must have the majority of its members that meet in the community room to be residents of Luzerne County.
· A monetary donation of $50.00 per day is requested for those profit agencies or ones that are promoting a good or service for monetary gain.
All reservations must be made to the Head Librarian as far in advance as possible. Reservations should be made no later than two weeks before the proposed schedule of the meeting. Any reservations made within a two week window are to be okayed at the discretion of the Head Librarian.
The Community Room is available during the hours and days when the library is open to the public.
All requests for audio and visual equipment are to be provided by the meeting group unless previously arranged with the library staff.
Refreshments may be served provided that the group meeting brings them and cleans up after the meeting. Refreshments will not be provided by the library.
Revised 4/01
______________________________________________________________________________
INTERNET USE POLICY
The Hoyt Library is committed to assuring public access to information and supporting continued learning for its patrons. Providing patrons with access to the Internet allows the library to greatly expand its role as an information provider. Before using the Internet at the Hoyt Library, however, you should be aware of the following:
· Not all sources on the Internet provide information that is accurate, complete, current, legal or philosophically acceptable to all patrons. Patrons must evaluate the validity and/or appropriateness of information.
· Parents and guardians are the best and final judges of what is appropriate for their children and are responsible for their children’s Internet use. Parents are advised to supervise their children’s Internet sessions.
· All users must sign an Internet agreement card. Parents or legal guardians of children under the age of 18 will need to approve their child’s use of the Internet computer by filling out an Internet agreement card for the child at the library.
· The Hoyt Library network and computers may not support certain file types available on the Internet, such as sound or moving images, IRC, or telenet.
· The Hoyt Library expressly prohibits any use of library computers for illegal activities, or to access material that contains or makes reference to explicit sexual materials as defined in 18 Pa. C.S. 5093, is obscene, contains child pornography, or is harmful to minors.
· Altering Hoyt Library computer settings or other activities which disrupt the library or its network are prohibited, and may cause a patron’s privileges to be revoked.
· All users residing in Luzerne County are required to have a valid Luzerne County Library System card. Those living outside Luzerne County have to provide a picture ID. Users must have their library card scanned at the Circulation Desk before using a computer. Each user will then sign in at the Reference Desk.
· Files may be saved on a diskette or CD. Diskettes & CDs may be purchased at the Reference Desk. All diskettes & CDs brought into the library must be scanned for viruses.
· There is a 60-minute time limit on computer use if patrons are waiting. Previous computer use on the same day will be counted when determining who has reached, or exceeded the time limit. Computers are shut down 30 minutes before closing. No exceptions.
· When patrons are waiting to use the computer, any patron currently using a computer that is found to have not signed in will be considered as having reached the 60-minute time limit.
· Only two users may gather at a particular computer.
· The cost of printouts is 10 cents per page for black & white and 25 cents per page for color.
· Users are not permitted to use the Hoyt Library computers to play games, participate in online gambling, access chat rooms, instant messaging or MySpace.com.
· All fines must be paid before a patron can use a computer.
· Computers in the Computer Lab are for classes or an overflow of computers on the main floor.
· Each computer is equipped with filtering software in accordance with the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA). This software denies access to certain websites that may be deemed inappropriate for children. The filter may occasionally block legitimate sites, and can be disabled upon request.
USERS MAY NOT:
· TREAT HOYT LIBRARY EQUIPMENT IN A ROUGH OR ABUSIVE MANNER.
· ATTEMPT TO REBOOT THE COMPUTERS.
· USE THE TERMINAL TO GAIN UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO ANY OTHER NETWORK OR COMPUTER SYSTEM.
· MAKE ANY ATTEMPT TO ALTER SOFTWARE CONFIGURATIONS OR INSTALL SOFTWARE.
· INVADE THE PRIVACY OF OTHERS.
· ENGAGE IN ANY ACTIVITY THAT IS HARASSING OR DEFAMATORY.
· VIOLATE COPYRIGHT LAWS OR LICENSING AGREEMENTS.
· VIOLATE LOCAL, STATE, OR FEDERAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS.
· DOWNLOAD ANY SOFTWARE TO THE HARD DRIVE OF ANY COMPUTER.
FAILURE TO USE THE INTERNET COMPUTERS APPROPRIATELY AND RESPONSIBLY MAY RESULT IN REVOCATION OF INTERNET USE PRIVILEGES AND/OR CRIMINAL PROSECUTION.
THIS POLICY COMPLIES WITH ACT 197.
The Hoyt Library reserves the right to modify this policy at any time.
Rev.1/2007
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REGISTRATION POLICIES
REGISTRATION PROCEDURES:
A person must have either one form of picture ID with a current address, or three forms of ID with a current address. Forms of ID can be a bill, a piece of mail or another piece of paper that legitimately shows ones current address.
The Hoyt library serves the following areas: Courtdale, Edwardsville, Forty Fort, Luzerne, Kingston, Pringle, Swoyersville. These areas are the service area of the Hoyt. Any other towns in Luzerne county are outside the jurisdiction of the Hoyt, however a card can and will still be issued for these towns with proper identification. The Hoyt will be considered the “Home Library”, but not the library that services any towns other than the ones listed above.
If someone presents an out of county library card, but a card that is still in Pennsylvania with the Access PA sticker, then a card will be issued to that person.
If a person does not have a card, a card without an Access Pa sticker can be issued for $25.00. Registration is valid for one year.
Registration for a library card is valid for three
years from the date of issuance.
YOUNG ADULT REGISTRATION:
Young adults are 12-17. They are eligible for a yellow library card or a “WHATEVER WHENEVER” card. Young adults can take out movies as long as they are age appropriate. If a young adult wants to take out “R” rated movies, parental consent must be obtained. Once parental consent is obtained, then these movies can be checked out.
ORGANIZATION REGISTRATION:
Organizations may obtain a library card with the approval of the library director provided a contact person is designated to take out materials and be responsible for lost or stolen materials borrowed with that card.
INTERNET ACCESS:
Internet access can be applied for at the circulation desk when the patron applies for a library card. Once applied for and obtained, Internet access is noted on the patron’s record with a remark in the NOTE field of their record. Example: Internet Access at Hoyt.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
UNATTENDED CHILDREN POLICY
Children are welcome and encouraged to visit the Hoyt Library. The Hoyt Library's staff wants to make library visits for each child attending the library both memorable and enjoyable. Library staff is not expected to assume responsibility for the care of unsupervised children that are not participating in a specific library program run by the library and its staff.
It is the policy of the Hoyt Library that children under the. age of 9 be accompanied by a parent or designated responsible person while in the library. Children who are aged nine to twelve may be left unattended at the Hoyt contingent upon approval from their parent or guardian. A child age 9-17 is subject to the same rules for code of conduct as other library patrons.
If an unattended child is being disruptive, is habitually left unattended for long periods of time or is deemed at risk of coming to harm, an effort will be made to locate the responsible parent, guardian or caregiver.
Lost/Unattended Child:
When an unattended child is identified, the Hoyt will make every reasonable effort to locate the parent, guardian or caregiver of the child.
If the safety of an unattended child is in doubt, or the parent/guardian/caregiver cannot be located, or the Hoyt is closing, staff will call the police and stay with the child until the police arrive.
Whenever possible, the Hoyt staff will notify parents or guardians of incidents
involving an unattended child. If the child is able to call their
parent/guardian/caregiver, then they are to be permitted to use the telephone to
do so.
Parents are responsible for the behavior of their children while they are in the Hoyt and violations of this policy are grounds for suspension of library privileges.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
VOLUNTEER POLICY
DEFINITION
A volunteer is any individual who assists with work done at the Hoyt library without compensation from the library.
A student intern shall be a middle school, high school or college student. They are considered a volunteer by performing work without compensation in order to fulfill a requirement imposed by their school or college. Students volunteering at the library for service organizations (boy scouts, girl scouts, etc.) shall also be classified as a student intern due to their age.
A community service worker is a volunteer that is required either through a court order or judicial agency to complete a specified number of hours working at the library to complete routine or special tasks to be determined by library staff.
The Hoyt library shall use the services of volunteers to:
1. Increase and broaden the efforts of the paid library
staff in meeting the needs and
requests for quality public service.
2. Enable members of the communities that we serve to
become involved with our
mission and services that we provide.
3. Staff and support various fundraising activities.
4. Assist with special projects to deliver services to the customers that we serve.
SCREENING OF APPLICANTS
All volunteers are required to fill out a volunteer application. Once this has been completed, the volunteer will be contacted for an interview should their services and skills be needed by the Hoyt. If they are not contacted, their application will, nonetheless, be on file for six months should a need for their services become available.
JOB DUTIES
Each supervisor will work with a volunteer to schedule the hours of work and job duties. A volunteer will typically work 2-3 hours per day. A volunteer will keep track of the number of hours they work and when they work.
Job duties shall consist of routine tasks such as but not limited to: shelving library materials, cleaning library materials, assisting in pulling materials to review for weeding, and general cleaning and maintenance of the library’s holdings. Special projects will be chosen based upon the need of the library and the requirements student interns.
SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS
Applicants may state a preference in which department they would like to work. All reasonable accommodations will be made for those chosen volunteers with disabilities that do not inhibit the completion of the agreed upon tasks and job duties.
Student interns and community service volunteers must provide contact information for the library staff to complete the necessary paperwork to document the number of volunteer hours completed and the tasks and projects completed.
For volunteering in the Children’s department, a criminal and child abuse clearances are required for those 18 years old and over.
TERMINATION OF VOLUNTEERS
Volunteers are expected to follow the rules of professionalism and conduct expected of paid library personnel. The library staff reserves the right to terminate a volunteer if the volunteer’s performance does not meet the standards of the job or job duties that have been given to the volunteer. Nothing in this policy shall be deemed to create a binding contract between the Hoyt library and the volunteer or intern.