New Trustees

Orientation

The library board welcomes the new members of the board by providing the information necessary to feel comfortable with their new job and to begin work. Like any new volunteers, trustees will be more productive if they know how the organization functions and what is expected of them.

The library’s board is responsible for providing a planned orientation program for new trustees. The library’s director assists in the orientation of new trustees, including introduction to library’s procedures, departments, and staff. The new trustee should be made aware of how introductory activities will be handled and that responsibility for planning, and implementing the orientation is shared by the board chairperson, board members, and library director.

The specifics will obviously vary with the style of the board and the size or type of library. However, the importance of a written orientation plan cannot be overemphasized.

Orientation Kit and Notebook

A new trustee needs information to review and consult. This should be compiled for new trustees in a binder that includes:

  • Annual schedule of board meetings
  • List of board members, names, addresses, e-mail addresses, telephone numbers
  • Bylaws of the board
  • Organizational chart for library, along with staff levels and pay scales
  • Staff lists, titles, responsibilities, locations, job descriptions
  • All policies of the library and board including code of ethics, intellectual freedom, personnel, collection development/materials selection, challenged materials, circulation, meeting room use, internet use, and acceptable behavior. Library policy defines the framework of the library’s operation. The library director implements policies set by the board. The board works with the library director to adopt, amend, or retire library policies. This is one of the most important functions of the library board. A library policy is only a policy once it has been approved by the library’s governing board in an open meeting held according to Idaho’s Open Meeting Law, chapter 2, title 74, Idaho Code.
  • Strategic Plan
  • Most recent annual report of the library, with prior years for comparison
  • Meeting minutes from the preceding 12 months
  • Current budget and fiscal reports
  • History of the library and the goals and objectives of its current strategic plan
  • Local laws, charter, and contracts pertaining to the library
  • Community analyses, such as census figures, economic and occupational trends.

New Trustees Should Meet with the Library Director to Learn How the Library Is:

  • Organized and governed
  • Funded and budgeted
  • Operated from day to day
  • Serving the needs of the community
  • Linked to other resources and groups related to the board of trustees

New Trustees Should Meet with Trustee Representatives to Learn about the Board:

  • Type of board (city or district), officers, and committees
  • Meeting location, schedule, and operation
  • Responsibilities and expectations
  • Goals, strategic plans, and projects in progress
  • Accomplishments
  • Roles of the director-board team

Introductory Board Meeting

It is a good idea to hold the regular board meeting at a slower pace than usual so that new library trustees can ask questions and follow the business at hand. It is also important to have experienced board members briefly recap activities and accomplishments of the past year.

After adjournment, it helps to spend time reviewing with the new trustee and to ask for her opinions and observations.

Ongoing discussions and information sessions can be a valuable supplement to the on-the-job training that follows orientation. It pays to show some special attention to new members until they feel comfortable in the role.

Ethics for Public Library Trustees

Library Trustee Ethics Statement
Public library Trustees are accountable for the resources of the library as well as for ensuring that the library provides the best possible service to its community.

For more information, take a look at the Public Library Trustee Ethics Statement, as approved by the United for Libraries board.

The Idaho Attorney General’s office publishes the Idaho Ethics in Government Manual. This manual contains information for elected and appointed officials concerning conflicts of interest, nepotism, and other ethical issues.

Intellectual Freedom

The libraries of America are and must ever remain the home of free, inquiring minds. To them our citizens … must be able to turn with clear confidence that there they can freely seek the whole truth, unwarped by fashion and uncompromised by expediency.”
– Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1953

According to the American Library Association’s (ALA’s) Intellectual Freedom and Censorship Q&A, “intellectual freedom is the right of every individual to both seek and receive information from all points of view without restriction. It provides for free access to all expressions of ideas through which any and all sides of a question, cause or movement may be explored.”

What is Censorship

“Censorship is the suppression of ideas and information that certain persons — individuals, groups, or government officials — find objectionable or dangerous. It is no more complicated than someone saying, “Don’t let anyone read this book, or buy that magazine, or view that film, because I object to it!”

The American Library Association’s Office of Intellectual Freedom (OIF) — has been a leader, educator, and supporter of local efforts to ensure that the library remains “… the home of free, inquiring minds.”

The ICfL’s Trustees and Directors page includes several links on the topics of Intellectual Freedom (IF) and Patron Privacy.

There are multiple definitions of censorship available on the Idaho Public Television website.

Library Bill of Rights

The American Library Association affirms that all libraries are forums for information and ideas, and that the following basic policies should guide their services.

  1. Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.
  2. Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.
  3. Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment.
  4. Libraries should cooperate with all persons and groups concerned with resisting abridgement of free expression and free access to ideas.
  5. A person’s right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views.
  6. Libraries which make exhibit spaces and meeting rooms available to the public they serve should make such facilities available on an equitable basis, regardless of the beliefs or affiliations of individuals or groups requesting their use.

Adopted June 19, 1939, by the ALA Council; amended October 14, 1944; June 18, 1948; February 2, 1961; June 27, 1967; January 23, 1980; include of “age” reaffirmed January 23, 1996.

Please note that Article V of the Library Bill of Rights includes age as one of the factors that should not affect a patron’s equitable access to the library. The American Library Association opposes all attempts to restrict access to library services, materials, and facilities based on the age of library users. The “right to use a library” includes free access to, and unrestricted use of, all the services, materials, and facilities the library has to offer. ALA maintains that children and young adults unquestionably possess First Amendment rights, including the right to receive information at the library. Every restriction on access to, and use of, library resources, based solely on the chronological age, educational level, literacy skills, or legal emancipation of users violates Article V.

Each child matures at his or her own rate. Different children have different backgrounds and interests as well as different reading levels and abilities. Decisions about what materials are suitable for particular children should be made by people who know them best: their parents or legal guardians. While librarians are not authorized to act in place of parents, they are happy to provide suggestions and guidance to parents, legal guardians, and younger library users are any time.

The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom provides confidential support during censorship challenges to library materials, services, and programs. Anyone can report censorship even if he does not require assistance. Report censorship by filling out this online form.

Responding to a Concerned Adult

If your library serves youth, your library’s staff sometimes need to respond to a concerned adult — such as a parent, legal guardian, or board member — about resources and services in the library. ALA has designed resources to help explain how and why your library selects the resources it provides. It can also help you respond to questions and challenges about material that adults may consider inappropriate. Remember that is is always best to be prepared by developing a collection development and management policy that includes procedures for how your library will handle requests for reconsideration of materials before such an occasion occurs. The library director should remember to contact the Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) when in need of guidance in developing the library’s policy and procedures. And please know that if you do receive a challenge, OIF stands ready to guide you.

ICfL Public Library Consultant Clay Ritter is also available for guidance when developing library policy.

Although the Articles of the Library Bill of Rights are unambiguous statements of basic principles that should govern the service of all libraries, questions do arise concerning application of these principles to specific library practices. See the documents designated by ALA’s Intellectual Freedom Committee as Interpretations of the Library Bill of Rights.

Movie Ratings and Public Libraries

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) is a U.S. trade association that represents the six major Hollywood studios: 20th Century Fox Film Corporation; Paramount Pictures Corporation; Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc.; Universal Pictures; Walt Disney Studios; and Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc.

MPAA assigns movie ratings in the United States and is also politically active in lobbying for its member studios.

The MPAA administers a motion picture rating system used in the U.S. to rate the suitability of films’ themes and content for certain audiences. The rating system is completely voluntary, and ratings have no legal standing. An unrated film is often denoted with NR in the media, although NR is not a formal MPAA rating. Movie theater owners — as private business owners — enforce the MPAA film ratings voluntarily once those ratings have been assigned.

Public libraries, as tax-funded entities, do not discriminate on the basis of origin, age, background, or views. It should also be noted that the presence of films, books, or other resources in a library does not indicate endorsement of their contents by the library. The adoption, enforcement, or endorsement of their contents by the library. The adoption, enforcement, or endorsement of any of these rating systems by a library violates the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights and may be unconstitutional. The American Library Association opposes labeling as a means of predisposing people’s attitudes toward library resources.

For more information on this topic, please read Labeling and Rating Systems: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights.

If parents would like to see reviews of films as well as comments from other parents, one source is Amazon.com. For many of the books and films available from Amazon, there are reviews from professional journals and newspapers as well as reviews written by parents for other parents.

Two additional resources for parents are part of the LiLI Databases:

  • NoveList Plus is a trusted source of reading recommendations for both fiction and nonfiction for all ages. This database offers read-alike recommendations for books, listen-alike recommendations for audiobooks, series information, professional reviews, reading lists, award winners, and more.
  • NoveList K-8 Plus is a trusted source of recommendations for just-right books for younger readers, resources for teachers and parents, reading lists, award winners, and more.
  • To learn more about NoveList Plus and NoveList K-8 Plus, visit LiLI.org. LiLI is provided by the Idaho Commission for Libraries and assisted with funds from the Library Services and Technologies Act through the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).

Challenges to Library Materials

Public library boards should have in place a Collection Development and Maintenance Policy that includes a procedure for working with community members who challenge library materials2. This is usually included as the last section of that policy. This Challenged Materials section should include a Request for Reconsideration of Materials form with instructions on how to submit the form and an explanation of how the reconsideration process works.

For privacy reasons, the library board should not be involved in challenges except as part of the appeals process. For more information, see the Patron Privacy Section.

The American Library Association offers a Sample Public Library Request for Reconsideration of Material Form that a library may incorporate into its Collection Development and Maintenance Policy.

2 A challenge, in the context of a library, is the attempt by a person or group of people to have literature restricted or removed from a public library or from a school curriculum. According to the American Library Association (ALA), a successful challenge would result in the removal of those materials, a form of censorship. ALA believes that it is important to monitor challenges made to books as well as actual bannings, as a challenge may lead to self-censorship by those seeking to avoid controversy. The word materials refers to all formats, including, but not limited to, print and electronic formats.

Patron Privacy Information

Related to Intellectual Freedom and of concern to public library boards is the privacy of patron information required by Idaho Code. According to I.C. § 74-108(3), the following records are exempt from disclosure: … The records of a library which, when examined alone, or when examined with other public records, would reveal the identity of the library patron checking out, requesting, or using an item from a library.

Library boards and directors should work with their legal counsel to develop a policy concerning patron privacy that reflects Idaho Code’s requirement. See also the Policy Development Section.

Resources and Examples

Trustee Roles & Governance

There are three types of public library in Idaho that are authorized by Idaho Code:

  • City libraries (a city department) — I.C. § 33-2601:

    “It is hereby declared to be the policy of the state of Idaho, as a part of the provisions for public education, to promote the establishment and development of free library service for all people in Idaho. It is the purpose of this act to assure an informed electorate by enabling the provision of free local library service, in the present and in the future, to children in their formative years and to adults for their continuing education. To carry out the purpose of this act, an independent, nonpartisan board shall govern the library.

    “Every library established in this chapter shall be forever free for the use of the residents of the city, always subject to such reasonable rules and regulations as the library board may find necessary to adopt.”

  • District libraries (independent taxing districts) — I.C. § 33-2701:

    “It is hereby declared to be the policy of the state of Idaho, as a part of the provisions for public education, to promote the establishment and development of public library service for all the people of Idaho. By so declaring, the state acknowledges that the ability of its citizens to access information has a critical impact on the state’s educational success, economic development, provision for an informed electorate, and overall quality of life. It is the purpose of this chapter to integrate, extend and add to existing library services and resources so that public library service may be available to all residents of the state from infancy through adulthood, beginning in the formative years and continuing for lifelong learning.”

  • School-community libraries (a district library that serves both as public library and school library) — I.C. § 33-2737:

    “(a) The board of trustees of any school district in which is situated no incorporated city having a population in excess of one thousand (1,000), and in which no public library is maintained under any other provision of law, shall, upon petition of twenty (20) or more school district electors, submit to the school district electors of the district the question whether there shall be a public library established by the district for the benefit of the citizens thereof.”

    As of June 30, 1994, new school-community libraries may no longer be established, per I.C. § 33-2737(d).

Each of these libraries has a board of trustees to:

  • Establish library policy;
  • Set and oversee the library’s operating budget;
  • Hire, supervise, evaluate, and work as a team with the library’s director;
  • Plan for the library’s growth and direction by creating a strategic plan;
  • Ensure that its community is well represented by, and informed about, the library;
  • Advocate for the library by communicating with decision makers at the local, state, and national levels.

In Idaho Code, city libraries are established in Title 33, Chapter 26, Public Libraries; district libraries and school-community libraries, in Title 33, Chapter 26, Public Library District.

Resources

Working as a board of five, the responsibilities of trustees can be divided into four general categories:

  1. Governance
    • Ensuring that the board and library’s organization are in compliance with chapter 26 or 27, title 33, Idaho Code
    • Building a competent board by
      • Recruiting board members who can help move the organization forward by utilizing their knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs)
      • Providing a planned orientation for new board members
      • Ensuring that the board is representative of the community’s current demographic
      • Utilizing the services of your ICfL public library consultant
    • Determining the library’s policies and the board’s for its own governance
    • Ensuring the board’s legal and ethical integrity in compliance with the provisions of title 74, Idaho Code, Transparent and Ethical Government
    • Monitoring and strengthening the library’s programs and services, both outputs and outcomes to ensure continuous oversight and improvement
    • Holding effective and efficient board meeting in compliance with chapter 2, title 74, Idaho Code
  2. Finance
    • Budgeting to carry out the library’s strategic plan
    • Budgeting to support open hours, staffing, and programming
    • Budgeting to support the library’s collection development plan
    • Protecting assets and providing financial oversight as part of the board’s legal responsibilities
  3. Personnel / Human Resources
    • Hiring, supervising, evaluating, and supporting the library director
    • Budgeting for the continuing education opportunities, both for the library’s staff and for the library’s trustees
  4. Service and Community Relations
    • Ensuring effective strategic planning
    • Engaging the community
    • Using our voices as committed and informed champions for the mission of the library and the greater good of all public libraries

In order to fulfill the governance role as a library board member, it is critical that all trustees be aware of their full powers and duties as defined in Idaho Code.

Chapter 26, title 33, Idaho Code, outlines some of the powers and duties of the boards of trustees of city libraries3:

33-2607. POWERS AND DUTIES OF TRUSTEES.
In addition to the powers elsewhere contained and notwithstanding the provisions of title 504, Idaho Code, the board of trustees of each city library shall have the following powers and duties:

  • To establish bylaws for its own governance;
  • To establish policies and rules of use for the governance of the library or libraries under its control; to exclude from the use of the library any and all persons who violate such rules;
  • To establish, locate, maintain and have custody of libraries to serve the city, and to provide suitable rooms, structures, facilities, furniture, apparatus and appliances necessary for library service;
  • With the approval of the city:
    • To acquire real property by purchase, gift, devise, lease or otherwise;
    • To own and hold real and personal property and to construct buildings for the use and purposes of the library;
    • To sell, exchange or otherwise dispose of real or personal property when no longer required by the library; and
    • To insure the real and personal property of the library;
  • To control the expenditures of money budgeted for the library;
  • To accept or decline gifts of money or personal property, in accordance with library policy, and under such terms as may be a condition of the gift;
  • To hire, supervise and evaluate the library director;
  • To establish policies for the purchase and distribution of library materials;
  • To attend all meetings of the board of trustees;
  • To maintain legal records of all board business;
  • To exercise such other powers, not inconsistent with law, necessary for the orderly and efficient management of the library.

3 “City library” means a library established by a city ordinance and operating under the provisions of chapter 26, title 33, Idaho Code [§ 33-2702, Idaho Code]

4 Title 50, Idaho Code, Municipal Corporations, is the primary law that governs cities in Idaho.

33-2608. LIBRARY DIRECTOR — DUTIES — OTHER EMPLOYEES.

The board of trustees of each city library shall appoint the library director, who shall serve at the pleasure of the board. The library director shall advise the board, implement policy set by the board, supervise all library staff and shall acquire library materials, equipment and supplies. The library director shall attend all board meetings but shall not vote.

With the recommendation of the library director, the board shall budget to hire other employees as may be necessary for the operation of the library. The library director shall hire or oversee the hiring of all other employees based on the policies, procedures, and job descriptions of the city. These employees shall be employees of the city and subject to the city’s personnel policies and classifications unless otherwise provide by city ordinance.

33-2609. ANNUAL APPROPRIATIONS — CONTROL OF EXPENDITURES.

The board shall prepare and adopt an annual budget, stating anticipated revenues and expenditures, indicating what support and maintenance of the library will be required for review and approval by the city council for the ensuing year.

All funds for the library shall be in the custody of the city treasurer unless otherwise provided by city ordinance, and shall be used only for library purposes. The board shall have control of library expenditures. Money shall be paid for library purposes, only upon properly authenticated vouchers of the board of trustees. The board shall not make expenditures or incur indebtedness in any year in excess of the amount of money appropriated for library purposes. The board may hold a separate checking account to be used to pay petty expenses of the library. This account shall be audited along with other library funds.

33-2610. DONATIONS.

Donations or gifts for the benefit of the library shall be budgeted along with other library accounts and shall be used only for library purposes. Money or other funds which are donated or given to the library may be expended by the board of trustees only in accordance with the city budget process.

33-2611. REPORTS OF TRUSTEES.

The board of trustees shall annually, not later than the first day of January, file with the board of library commissioners a report of the operations of the library for the fiscal year just ended. The report shall be of such form and contain such information as the board of library commissioners may require, but in all cases must include a complete accounting of all financial transactions for the fiscal year being reported. The board shall also report to the city council and mayor as required in section 50-210, Idaho Code.

33-2620. FAILURE TO RETURN BORROWED MATERIAL.

Any persons who borrows from a publicly funded lending facility any book, newspaper, magazine, manuscript, pamphlet, publication, microform, recording, film, artifact, specimen, device, exhibit or other article belonging to, or in the care of, the facility, under any agreement to return the same within a specified time, and thereafter fails to return the book, newspaper, magazine, manuscript, pamphlet, publication, microform, recording, film, artifact, specimen, device, exhibit or other article, shall be given written notice, which shall bear upon its face a copy of this statute, mailed by a registered or certified letter with return receipt, or delivered in person to such person at his last known address, to return the borrowed article within fifteen (15) days; and in the event that the person shall thereafter willingly and knowingly fail to return the borrowed article within thirty (30) days, or shall fail to reimburse the facility for the value of the borrowed article plus overdue fines and costs incurred, the person shall be guilty of a petit theft and punishable as provided in chapter 24, title 18, Idaho Code. For purposes of this section, a “publicly funded lending facility” includes any library, gallery, museum, collection or exhibit supported by public funds.

Chapter 27, title 33, Idaho Code, outlines some of the powers and duties of the boards of trustees of district libraries5:

33-2720. POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES.

  • (1) The board of trustees of each library district shall have the following powers and duties consistent with the laws of the state of Idaho:
    • (a) To establish bylaws for its own government;
    • (b) To establish policies for the administration, operation and use of the library or libraries under its control;
    • (c) To employ and evaluate a library director or library director team to administer the library;
    • (d) To create job descriptions, personnel policies, and compensation packages for library personnel;
    • (e) To establish an annual budget and to oversee the financial management of the library district;
    • (f) To establish and locate libraries, branch libraires or stations to serve the district and to provide suitable rooms, structures, facilities, furniture, apparatus and appliances necessary for the conduct thereof;
    • To acquire by purchase, devise, lease, or otherwise, and to own and hold real and personal property and to construct buildings for the use and purposes of the library district, and to sell, exchange or otherwise dispose of property real or personal, when no longer required by the district, and to insure the real and personal property of the district;
    • (h) To accept gifts of real or personal property for the use and purposes of the library district;
    • (i) To establish policies for the purchase and distribution of library materials;
    • (j) To issue warrants, if used, in the manner specified for the issuance of warrants by school districts;
    • (k) To invest any funds of the district in accordance with the public depository law and other applicable state and federal laws;
    • (l) To pay actual and necessary expenses of members of the library staff when on business of the district;
    • (m) To see to the proper conduct of library district elections;
    • (n) To maintain legal records of all board business;
    • (o) To exercise other powers, not inconsistent with law, necessary for the effective use and management of the library.
  • (2) Individual trustees shall have no authority to make decisions about the policies of the library expect as specifically authorized by the board.
  • (3) It shall be the duty of each trustee to attend all board meetings and committee meetings for committees to which he or she has been assigned.

5 “Public library district trustee” means a qualified elector living within the boundaries of a public library district who is elected or appointed temporarily to fulfill the duties described in chapter 27, title 33, Idaho Code related to the governance of a public library district [§ 33-2702(5), Idaho Code]. “Qualified elector” means any person voting or offering to vote, at an election to create a library district, add territory thereto, or elect trustees thereof. A qualified elector must be, at the time of the election, a resident of the area involved for thirty (30) days prior to the date of the election, registered and an elector within the meaning of section 2, article VI, of the Constitution of the state of Idaho [§ 33-2602(7), Idaho Code].

33-2721. LIBRARY DIRECTOR — DIRECTOR TEAM — EMPLOYEES

(1) Except for an administrative only district, the board of trustees of each library district shall appoint a library director or director team who shall administer the library district. The director or one (1) member of the director team assigned by the board shall serve as the secretary for the board without voting rights. The library director or director team shall advise the board, implement policy set by the board, and shall acquire library materials, equipment and supplies. The director or director team shall attend all executive sessions of the board of trustees, except those called to consider the evaluation, dismissal, or disciplining, or to hear complaints or charges against the library director or director team member. No library director or director team member shall be an employee or board member of a library or other agency with which the district has a contract to provide library services.

(2) The board shall fix and pay employee salaries and compensation, classify employees, adopt personnel policies, and discipline or discharge any library director or director team member for cause. The library director or director team shall hire or oversee the hiring of all other employees based on the policies, procedures, and job descriptions created by the library board, and shall discipline and discharge any employee for cause, as necessary, according to the written policies of the board.

33-2722. TREASURER — CLERK.

The board of trustees of each library district shall appoint some qualified person, who may or may not be a member of the board of trustees, to act as treasurer of the library district. This person shall, on taking office, give bond to the library district, with sureties approved by the board of trustees, in the amount of at least five thousand dollars ($5,000), which bond shall be paid for by the district and shall be conditioned upon faithful performance of the duties of his office and his accounting for all moneys of the library district received by him or under his control. The treasurer shall supervise all moneys raised for the library district by taxation or received by the district from any other sources and shall supervise all disbursements of funds of the district by order of the board of trustees.

Under the direction of the board of trustees, the treasurer shall have all moneys of the district deposited in accordance with the public depository law and other applicable state and federal laws.

The board of trustees of each library district shall appoint some qualified person, who may or may not be a member of the board of trustees, to act as clerk of the library board. The clerk shall prepare and distribute legal notices and shall have other duties as the board may prescribe.

33-2725. LIBRARY DISTRICT BUDGET — PUBLIC HEARING — NOTICE — ADJUSTMENTS.

The board of trustees of each library district shall prepare for the ensuing fiscal year a budget and prior to its adoption shall have called and caused to be held a public hearing thereon at a regular or special meeting. Notice of the time and place of the hearing shall be published at least once in a newspaper printed, or having general circulation within the district or in the county or counties in which the library district may lie. The board of trustees of each library district shall also prepare and publish, as a part of this notice, a summary statement of the budget for the ensuing year prepared in a manner consistent with standard accounting practices and indicating amounts previously budgeted for the then current year for purposes of comparison.

During the year the board of trustees may proceed to adjust the budget as adopted to reflect the receipt of unanticipated revenue, grants, or donations from federal, state or local government or private sources, provided that there shall be no increase in the property tax portion of the annual certified budget. Prior to the adoption of the budget adjustment, the library board shall have called and cause to be held a public hearing thereon at a regular or special meeting. Notice of the time and place of the hearing shall be published at least once in a newspaper printed or having general circulation within the district or in the county or counties in which the library district may lie. The board of trustees of each library district shall also prepare and publish, as a part of this notice, a summary of the budget and the adjustments prepared in a manner consistent with standard accounting practices and indicating amounts previously budgeted for the then current year for purposes of comparison.

33-2726. FISCAL YEAR — ANNUAL REPORTS — AUDIT.

The fiscal year of each library district shall commence on the first day of October of each year. The board of trustees of each library district shall annually, not later than the first day of January, file with the board of library commissioners a report of the operations of the district for the fiscal year just ended. The report shall be on the form and contain the information that the board of library commissioners requires, but in all cases must include a complete accounting of all financial transactions for the fiscal year being reported.

The board of trustees of each library district shall cause to be made a full and complete audit of the books and accounts of the district as required in section 67-450B, Idaho Code.

33-2727. CONTRACTS — JOINT POWERS AGREEMENTS — PARTICIPATION IN NONPROFIT CORPORATIONS.

(1) In lieu of, or in addition to, establishing an independent library, the board of trustees may purchase specified library services by contract from any taxing unit, or public or private agency maintaining a library. Contracts for services shall contain provisions on annual budget procedures, accounting for funds, dispute resolution procedures, ownership of assets purchased with district funds, annual reports and procedures for ending the contract.

(2) The board of trustees of a library district may sell specified library services to any taxing unit, or public or private agency which contracts to make an acceptable annual appropriation for these services.

(3) Any purchase or sale of library services shall be under a written contract that is in accordance with all applicable state and federal laws.

(4) In order to improve or expand public library services, library districts may participate in the joint exercise of powers with other public agencies as specified by law.

(5) In order to improve or expand public library services, library districts may become corporate partners in nonprofit corporations.

33-2728. BOND ELECTION.

(1) The purposes for which bonds may be issued shall be: To acquire, purchase, or improve a library site or sites; to build a library or libraries, or other building or buildings; to demolish or remove buildings; to add to, remodel or repair any existing building; to furnish and equip any building or buildings, including all facilities and appliances necessary to maintain and operate the buildings of the library; and to purchase motor vehicles for use as bookmobiles.

The library district may issue bonds in an amount not to exceed one percent (1%) of the market value for assessment purposes of property within the district, less any aggregate outstanding indebtedness.
The board of trustees of any library district, upon approval of a majority thereof, may call a bond election on the question as to whether the board shall be empowered to issue bonds of the district in an amount and for a period of time to be stated in the notice of election. The notice of bond elections, the qualification of bond electors, the conduct of the election, and the canvass of election and determination of the result of election shall be in accordance with chapter 14, title 34, Idaho Code, and with the general election laws of the state of Idaho. Provided however, that any such election conducted pursuant to this section shall be held on election day in the month of May or November as provided for in section 34-106(1), Idaho Code. The majority required to pass a bond issue shall be two-thirds (2/3) of those voting in the election. The issuance of bonds, the expenditure of bond proceeds and the repayment of the bonds shall all be as specified in school district law.

(2) District library bond funds may not be used to purchase or expand a building for a contracting agency providing library services unless the district library gains an ownership share in the building proportional to the percentage of district bond funds used to purchase or expand the building.

33-2729. PLANT FACILITIES RESERVE FUND AND LEVY.

The library district board of trustees is authorized to create a plant facilities reserve fund as set forth in sections 33-804 and 33-901, Idaho Code.

District library facilities plant facilities reserve funds may not be used to purchase or expand a building for a contracting agency providing library services unless the district library gains an ownership share in the building proportional to the percentage of district bond funds used to purchase or expand the building.

33-2741. PUBLIC LIBRARY — INTERNET USE POLICY REQUIRED.

  • (1) Public libraries receiving public moneys and governed by the provisions of chapters 26 and 27, title 33, Idaho Code, that offer use of the internet or an online service to the public:
    • (a)(i) Shall have in place a policy of internet safety for minors including the operation of a technology protection measure with respect to any publicly accessible wireless internet access or publicly accessible computers with internet access and that protects against access through such computers or wireless internet access to visual depictions that are obscene or child pornography or harmful to minors; and
    • (ii) Shall enforce the operation of such technology protection measure during any use of a computer or wireless internet access by a minor.
    • (b)(i) Shall have in place a policy of internet safety, which may include the operation of a technology protection measure with respect to any publicly accessible wireless internet access and that protects against access through such computers or wireless internet access to visual depictions that are obscene or child pornography; and
    • (ii) May enforce the operation of such technology protection measure during any use of a computer or wireless internet access.
  • (2) The provisions of this section shall not prohibit a public library from limiting internet access or otherwise protecting against materials other than the materials specified in this section.
  • (3) An administrator, supervisor, or other authorized representative of a public library may disable a technology protection measure described in subsection (1) of this section at the request of a library patron to enable access for lawful purposes.
  • (4) Each public library’s policy shall be developed under the direction of the library’s board of trustees, adopted in an open meeting and shall have an effective date. The board of trustees shall review the policy at least once every three (3) years. The policy shall reflect the most recent date of review.
  • (5) Notice of the availability of the policy shall be posted in a conspicuous place within the library for all patrons to observe. The board of trustees may issues any other public notice it considers appropriate to inform the community about the policy.
  • (6) The policy may:
    • (a) State that it restricts access to internet or online sites that contain material described in subsection (1) of this section and how the policy meets the requirements provided for in this section;
    • (b) Inform patrons that administrative procedures and guidelines for library staff to follow in enforcing the policy have been adopted and are available for review at the library; and
    • (c) Inform patrons that procedures for use by patrons and staff to handle complaints about the policy, its enforcement or about observed patron behavior have been adopted and are available for review at the library.
  • (7) For the purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
    • (a) “Child pornography” means any visual depiction, including any photograph, film, video, picture, or computer or computer-generated image or picture, whether made or produced by electronic, mechanical, or other means, of sexually explicit conduct, where:
      • (i) The production of such visual depiction involves the use of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct;
      • (ii) Such visual depiction is a digital image, computer image, or computer-generated image that is, or is indistinguishable from, that of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct; or
      • (iii) Such visual depiction has been created, adapted, or modified to appear that an identifiable minor is engaging in sexually explicit conduct.
    • (b) “Harmful to minors” means any picture, image, graphic image file or other visual depiction that:
      • (i) Taken as a whole and with respect to minors, appeals to a prurient interest in nudity, sex or excretion;
      • (ii) Depicts, describes or represents, in a patently offensive way with respect to what is suitable for minors, an actual or simulated sexual act or sexual contact, actual or simulated normal or perverted sexual acts, or a lewd exhibition of the genitals; and
      • (iii) Take as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value as to minors.
    • (c) “Minor) means anyone who has not attained the age of eighteen (18) years.
    • (d) “Obscene” means a depiction that:
      • (i) The average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find to appeal to the prurient interest;
      • (ii) Depicts or describes sexual conduct in a patently offensive way; and
      • (iii) Lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.
    • (e) “Public moneys” means any and all money belonging to or collected by the state or any political subdivision thereof including, but not necessarily limited to, any city, county, town or district therein.
  • (8) The provisions of this section shall have no effect on the provisions of section 33-132, Idaho Code.

33-2620. FAILURE TO RETURN BORROWED MATERIAL.

Any persons who borrows from a publicly funded lending facility any book, newspaper, magazine, manuscript, pamphlet, publication, microform, recording, film, artifact, specimen, device, exhibit or other article belonging to, or in the care of, the facility, under any agreement to return the same within a specified time, and thereafter fails to return the book, newspaper, magazine, manuscript, pamphlet, publication, microform, recording, film, artifact, specimen, device, exhibit or other article, shall be given written notice, which shall bear upon its face a copy of this statute, mailed by a registered or certified letter with return receipt, or delivered in person to such person at his last known address, to return the borrowed article within fifteen (15) days; and in the event that the person shall thereafter willingly and knowingly fail to return the borrowed article within thirty (30) days, or shall fail to reimburse the facility for the value of the borrowed article plus overdue fines and costs incurred, the person shall be guilty of a petit theft and punishable as provided in chapter 24, title 18, Idaho Code. For purposes of this section, a “publicly funded lending facility” includes any library, gallery, museum, collection or exhibit supported by public funds.

Idaho Code sections 18-1514 and 18-1517B (in effect July 1, 2024) also apply to city and district libraries. This is the law that requires public libraries to have a collection development policy and a request for consideration form in place, and to cite definitions from the state code.

18-1514. OBSCENE MATERIALS — DEFINITIONS. The following definitions are applicable to this act: 

  • (1) “Minor” means any person less than eighteen (18) years of age. 
  • (2) “Nudity” means the showing of the human male or female genitals, pubic area or buttocks with less than a full opaque covering, or the showing of the female breast with less than a full opaque covering of any portion thereof below the top of the nipple, or the depiction of covered male genitals in a discernibly turgid state. 
  • (3) “Sexual conduct” means any act of masturbation, homosexuality, sexual intercourse, or physical contact with a person’s clothed or unclothed genitals, pubic area, buttocks or, if such person be a female, the breast. 
  • (4) “Sexual excitement” means the condition of human male or female genitals when in a state of sexual stimulation or arousal. 
  • (5) “Sado-masochistic abuse” means flagellation or torture by or upon a person who is nude or clad in undergarments, a mask or bizarre costume, or the condition of being fettered, bound or otherwise physically restrained on the part of one who is nude or so clothed. 
  • (6) “Harmful to minors” includes in its meaning the quality of any material or of any performance or of any description or representation, in whatever form, of nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or sado-masochistic abuse, when it: 
    • (a) Appeals to the prurient interest of minors as judged by the average person, applying contemporary community standards; and 
    • (b) Depicts or describes representations or descriptions of nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or sado-masochistic abuse which are patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community with respect to what is suitable material for minors and includes, but is not limited to, patently offensive representations or descriptions of: 
      • (i) Intimate sexual acts, normal or perverted, actual or simulated; or 
      • (ii) Masturbation, excretory functions or lewd exhibition of the genitals or genital area. Nothing herein contained is intended to include or proscribe any matter which, when considered as a whole, and in context in which it is used, possesses serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value for minors[.] 
  • (7) “Material” means anything tangible which is harmful to minors, whether derived through the medium of reading, observation or sound. 
  • (8) “Performance” means any play, motion picture, dance or other exhibition performed before an audience. 
  • (9) “Promote” means to manufacture, issue, sell, give, provide, deliver, publish, distribute, circulate, disseminate, present, exhibit or advertise, or to offer or agree to do the same. 
  • (10) “Knowingly” means having general knowledge of, or reason to know, or a belief or reasonable ground for belief that warrants further inspection or inquiry. 
  • (11) “School” means any public or private school providing instruction for students in kindergarten through grade 12.

18-1517B. CHILDREN’S SCHOOL AND LIBRARY PROTECTION

  • (1) This section shall be known and may be cited as the “Children’s School and Library Protection Act.”
  • (2) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a school or public library, or an agent thereof, shall not promote, give, or make available to a minor:
    • (a) Any picture, photograph, drawing, sculpture, motion picture film, or similar visual representation or image of a person or portion of the human body that depicts nudity, sexual conduct, or sado-masochistic abuse and that is harmful to minors;
    • (b) Any book, pamphlet, magazine, printed matter however reproduced, or sound recording that contains any matter pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subsection or explicit and detailed verbal descriptions or narrative accounts of sexual excitement, sexual conduct, or sado-masochistic abuse and that, taken as a whole, is harmful to minors; or
    • (c) Any other material harmful to minors.
  • (3) Any minor who obtains material, or parent or legal guardian whose child obtained material, in violation of the provisions of subsection (2) of this section from a school or public library shall have a cause of action against such institution if:
    • (a) The institution gave or made available material harmful to minors, or the institution failed to take reasonable steps to restrict access by minors to material harmful to minors;
    • (b) Prior to the filing of a cause of action, the minor, parent, or legal guardian has provided written notice to the school or public library asking for the relocation of such material to a section designated for adults only within sixty (60) days of receipt of the written notice; and
    • (c) Upon receipt of written notice and subsequent to the expiration of sixty (60) days, the institution’s library board or board of trustees failed to relocate the material harmful to minors to an area with adult access only.
  • (4) Any minor, parent, or legal guardian who prevails in an action brought under this section may recover two hundred fifty dollars ($250) in statutory damages as well as actual damages and any other relief available by law, including but not limited to injunctive relief sufficient to prevent the defendant school or public library from violating the requirements of this section.
  • (5) A county prosecuting attorney or the attorney general shall have a cause of action for injunctive relief against any school or public library that violates the provisions of subsection (2) of this section. The injunction shall be sufficient to prevent the defendant school or public library from violating the requirements of this section.
  • (6) It shall be an affirmative defense to civil liability under this section that the defendant:
    • (a) Had reasonable cause to believe that the minor involved was eighteen (18) years of age or older or such minor exhibited to the defendant a draft card, driver’s license, birth certificate, or other official or apparently official document purporting to establish that the minor was eighteen (18) years of age or older; or
    • (b) Verified the minor involved was accompanied, at the time of the act, by his parent or legal guardian, or by another adult and the adult represented that he was the minor’s parent or legal guardian and signed a written statement to that effect.
  • (7) Each school and public library shall have a policy and readily accessible form allowing a person to request review of material the person considers to be harmful to minors. Such form shall contain the definition of “harmful to minors,” as provided in section 18-1514, Idaho Code.
  • (8) Any action brought pursuant to this section by or on behalf of a minor shall be in accordance with the provisions of chapter 9, title 6, Idaho Code, section 5-306, Idaho Code, and rule 17 of the Idaho rules of civil procedure.

Idaho Code section 33-2741 applies to city and district libraries. This is the law that requires public libraries to filter public computers that are available to minors:

33-2741. PUBLIC LIBRARY — INTERNET USE POLICY REQUIRED.

  • (1) Public libraries receiving public moneys and governed by the provisions of chapters 26 and 27, title 33, Idaho Code, that offer use of the internet or an online service to the public:
    • (a)(i) Shall have in place a policy of internet safety for minors including the operation of a technology protection measure with respect to any publicly accessible wireless internet access or publicly accessible computers with internet access and that protects against access through such computers or wireless internet access to visual depictions that are obscene or child pornography or harmful to minors; and
    • (ii) Shall enforce the operation of such technology protection measure during any use of a computer or wireless internet access by a minor.
    • (b)(i) Shall have in place a policy of internet safety, which may include the operation of a technology protection measure with respect to any publicly accessible wireless internet access and that protects against access through such computers or wireless internet access to visual depictions that are obscene or child pornography; and
    • (ii) May enforce the operation of such technology protection measure during any use of a computer or wireless internet access.
  • (2) The provisions of this section shall not prohibit a public library from limiting internet access or otherwise protecting against materials other than the materials specified in this section.
  • (3) An administrator, supervisor, or other authorized representative of a public library may disable a technology protection measure described in subsection (1) of this section at the request of a library patron to enable access for lawful purposes.
  • (4) Each public library’s policy shall be developed under the direction of the library’s board of trustees, adopted in an open meeting and shall have an effective date. The board of trustees shall review the policy at least once every three (3) years. The policy shall reflect the most recent date of review.
  • (5) Notice of the availability of the policy shall be posted in a conspicuous place within the library for all patrons to observe. The board of trustees may issues any other public notice it considers appropriate to inform the community about the policy.
  • (6) The policy may:
    • (a) State that it restricts access to internet or online sites that contain material described in subsection (1) of this section and how the policy meets the requirements provided for in this section;
    • (b) Inform patrons that administrative procedures and guidelines for library staff to follow in enforcing the policy have been adopted and are available for review at the library; and
    • (c) Inform patrons that procedures for use by patrons and staff to handle complaints about the policy, its enforcement or about observed patron behavior have been adopted and are available for review at the library.
  • (7) For the purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
    • (a) “Child pornography” means any visual depiction, including any photograph, film, video, picture, or computer or computer-generated image or picture, whether made or produced by electronic, mechanical, or other means, of sexually explicit conduct, where:
      • (i) The production of such visual depiction involves the use of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct;
      • (ii) Such visual depiction is a digital image, computer image, or computer-generated image that is, or is indistinguishable from, that of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct; or
      • (iii) Such visual depiction has been created, adapted, or modified to appear that an identifiable minor is engaging in sexually explicit conduct.
    • (b) “Harmful to minors” means any picture, image, graphic image file or other visual depiction that:
      • (i) Taken as a whole and with respect to minors, appeals to a prurient interest in nudity, sex or excretion;
      • (ii) Depicts, describes or represents, in a patently offensive way with respect to what is suitable for minors, an actual or simulated sexual act or sexual contact, actual or simulated normal or perverted sexual acts, or a lewd exhibition of the genitals; and
      • (iii) Take as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value as to minors.
    • (c) “Minor) means anyone who has not attained the age of eighteen (18) years.
    • (d) “Obscene” means a depiction that:
      • (i) The average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find to appeal to the prurient interest;
      • (ii) Depicts or describes sexual conduct in a patently offensive way; and
      • (iii) Lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.
    • (e) “Public moneys” means any and all money belonging to or collected by the state or any political subdivision thereof including, but not necessarily limited to, any city, county, town or district therein.
  • (8) The provisions of this section shall have no effect on the provisions of section 33-132, Idaho Code.

Resources

Related Articles

Go to Top