Open Meetings and Public Comment Policy
Purpose
This policy describes how the Warsaw Public Library Board of Trustees conducts its meetings, provides public access to those meetings, and handles public comment. The board is a public body subject to New York’s Open Meetings Law (Public Officers Law, Article 7). All board meetings are open to the public unless the board lawfully enters executive session.
Definition
- Chartered service area: The geographic area the library is chartered to serve, as defined in the library’s charter issued by the New York State Board of Regents.
- Executive session: A portion of an open meeting from which the public may be excluded. An executive session is not a separate meeting. It may be called only for purposes specifically enumerated in Public Officers Law § 105 and only by a majority vote of the board’s total membership taken in open session.
- Meeting: The official convening of a public body for the purpose of conducting public business, including any working session at which a quorum of trustees is expected to attend and library business will be discussed, consistent with Public Officers Law § 102(1).
- News media: Newspapers, radio stations, television stations, and online news outlets that cover the library’s service area. Providing notice to the news media means proactively informing those outlets of the time and place of a meeting. The library is not required to pay for a legal advertisement to satisfy this requirement.
- Public body: An entity that requires a quorum to conduct public business, consists of two or more members, and performs a governmental function, consistent with Public Officers Law § 102(2). The board of trustees of a public library or free association library is a public body subject to the Open Meetings Law.
Quorum: A majority of the whole board, counting any vacant seats as unfilled positions. For example, a seven-member board with one vacancy requires four trustees present to conduct business. The board may not conduct business without a quorum.
Open Meetings
Board meetings are open to the public. Any member of the public may attend, listen, and observe.
The board meets in facilities that provide barrier-free physical access, consistent with Public Officers Law § 103(b).
Meeting Notice
The board provides public notice of all meetings consistent with Education Law § 260-a and Public Officers Law § 104.
For any meeting scheduled at least two weeks in advance, the board provides notice of the time and place to a board designated news media outlet and the public at least one week before the meeting, consistent with Education Law § 260-a. Notice is posted conspicuously in one or more designated public locations and transmitted to the news media. Notice is also posted on the library’s website at warsawpubliclibrary.org
For meetings scheduled less than one week in advance, the board provides notice to the news media to the extent practicable and posts notice in designated public locations at a reasonable time before the meeting, consistent with Public Officers Law § 104(2).
The board also notifies each trustee of the time and place of every meeting not less than five days and not more than ten days before the meeting, consistent with Education Law § 226(3).
Proposed resolutions, policies, or other records scheduled for discussion are made available to the public on the library’s website at least 24 hours before the meeting, consistent with Public Officers Law § 103(e).
Committees, Working Sessions, and Trustee Communications
For public libraries, the Open Meetings Law applies to all committees and subcommittees of the board. In the opinion of the Committee on Open Government.
Working sessions of the board, even if not designated as formal meetings, must be noticed and open to the public if a quorum of trustees is expected to attend and library business will be discussed. Educational sessions in which the board does not conduct business are exempt from the Open Meetings Law.
Trustees may communicate individually between meetings by telephone, mail, or email without triggering OML requirements so long as a series of communications does not result in a collective decision.
Remote Participation by Trustees
The Open Meetings Law sets strict requirements for how trustees may participate in board meetings. The following rules apply to all board meetings.
- Trustees may not participate or vote by telephone.
- Trustees may not vote by email or other written communication outside of a properly noticed open meeting.
- Proxy voting is not permitted. Each trustee must be present and vote in their own capacity.
- A trustee may participate in a meeting by video conference only from a physical location that is open to in-person attendance by the public. That location must be identified in the public notice for the meeting transmitted to the news media and posted on the library’s website. Any member of the public may choose to attend the meeting from that location. A trustee participating by video conference from a publicly accessible location must have their camera on at all times during the meeting. A trustee participating in this manner may be counted toward quorum.
Meeting Minutes
The board takes minutes at all open meetings, consistent with Public Officers Law § 106(1).
Minutes record the official actions of the board. They include:
- The names of trustees present and absent. Before the board can conduct any business, a quorum must be present. A quorum is a majority of the full board membership, counting vacant seats as unfilled positions.
- All motions made, including the name of the trustee who made the motion and the trustee who seconded it.
- The vote on each motion, proposal, or resolution, meaning how each trustee voted or whether the vote was unanimous.
- Any other matter formally acted upon by the board.
The board acts through motions and resolutions. Discussion at a meeting, without a vote, is not an action of the board and is not recorded in the minutes.
Public comment received at a meeting and written correspondence submitted to the board are not part of the minutes. They are not recorded in or attached to the minutes as part of the official meeting record.
Minutes of open meetings are made available to the public on the library’s website within two weeks of the meeting date, consistent with Public Officers Law § 106(3).
When the board takes action by formal vote during an executive session, the board records the final determination, the date, and the vote. Those minutes do not include any matter that is not required to be made public under the Freedom of Information Law. Executive session minutes are available to the public within one week of the executive session and posted to the library’s website within one week, consistent with Public Officers Law § 106(3).
Public Comment
The board welcomes public comment as part of its regular meetings. The board chair opens a public comment period at the beginning of each meeting.
Any member of the public may address the board during the public comment period. All library policies apply during meetings, including the library’s Code of Conduct.
Speakers must:
- State their name and, if applicable, their organizational affiliation before speaking.
- Limit their remarks to three minutes.
- Direct all remarks to the board, not to other audience members or staff.
- Maintain civil and respectful conduct throughout.
Each speaker’s time belongs to that speaker and may not be yielded or transferred to another person.
The board does not respond to public comments during the meeting. The director or board chair may follow up with speakers after the meeting at the board’s discretion.
Public comment is limited to agenda items only.
The board chair manages the public comment period and may limit, interrupt, or close comment that is disruptive, repetitive, or outside the scope of library business.
Recording of Meetings
Members of the public may photograph, record, broadcast, or webcast any open meeting of the board, consistent with Public Officers Law § 103(d). The board has adopted the following rules governing the placement of equipment and recording personnel to ensure meetings proceed in an orderly manner. These rules are posted conspicuously at the meeting location and included in the public notice for each meeting.
Rules for recording, photographing, broadcasting, or webcasting a board meeting:
- No extension cords or other potential tripping hazards may be set up.
- No flash photography or additional lighting may be used.
- No recording equipment may be placed closer than four feet to any meeting participant without that person’s express consent.
- All equipment must be silent enough not to cause a disruption to the meeting.
- Equipment must not block aisles or exits and may not impede the view of other attendees.
- Equipment must be maintained, monitored, and attended at all times by its owner.
- The library is not responsible for damaged, lost, or stolen equipment.
The library’s public WiFi network is available to attendees during meetings.
These rules apply only to open meetings of the board. The board enforces these rules in a manner consistent with the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 8 of the New York State Constitution.
Executive Sessions
The board may meet in executive session only for purposes specifically permitted by Public Officers Law § 105. Those purposes are:
- Matters that would imperil public safety if disclosed
- Matters that might disclose the identity of a law enforcement agent or informer
- Information about a current or future criminal investigation or prosecution that would imperil law enforcement if disclosed
- Discussion of proposed, pending, or current litigation
- Collective bargaining negotiations
- The medical, financial, credit, or employment history of a specific person, or matters related to the appointment, employment, promotion, demotion, discipline, suspension, dismissal, or removal of a specific person
- The preparation, grading, or administration of examinations
- The proposed acquisition, sale, or lease of real property, or the proposed acquisition or disposition of securities, when publicity would substantially affect their value
The board may enter executive session only by a majority vote of its total membership, taken in open session, following a motion that identifies the general subject area to be discussed. The board may not take action by formal vote during executive session, except as permitted by Public Officers Law § 106(2).
The public is not admitted to executive sessions. Members of the board and any person authorized by the board may attend.
Enforcement
Any person who believes the board has violated the Open Meetings Law may seek enforcement through a proceeding under CPLR Article 78 or an action for declaratory judgment and injunctive relief, consistent with Public Officers Law § 107. Advisory opinions on Open Meetings Law questions are available from the New York State Committee on Open Government.
Review
“The board reviews this policy every five years, consistent with 8 NYCRR § 90.2, or sooner if the Open Meetings Law, Education Law, or other applicable law changes in a way that requires revision
Approved by the Warsaw Public Library Board of Trustees on 8/11/2026.
Reviewed/Approved by the Warsaw Public Library Board of Trustees 2/14/2023
Amended, Reviewed, and Approved 8/11/2026