[Publib] Job fair in meeting room

[Christopher F. Bowen]

You really need to look at your meeting room policy -- or develop one --
and have your attorney review it. He or she will likely tell you that
you can not decide what sort of meeting may be held there. You can make
"time, place, a manner" rules that are applied to all potential users
equally. For example, use must be within regular library hours, or no
food is allowed, etc. You can choose to limit use to non-profits, or
even non-profits located within your geographical community, such
non-profit clubs and organizations located within the town of Dismal
Seepage Illinois, but if you make it available to any non-profits you
must make it available to all non-profits that meet that general
criteria. For example, you can not decide that a religious group can not
meet, but civic club can. In the same way, once you make it available to
one business, you must make it available on the same terms to any
business that wants to use it. I am not sure if you could limit business
use to something like "staff meetings are acceptable, but meetings with
customers are not." Start with the ALA Interpretation of the Library
Bill of Rights on Meeting Rooms.
http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=interpretations&Template=/Conten
tManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=8581

It gives pretty clear guidelines on what a meeting room policy should
include, based on the law.

Christopher Bowen
Library Director
Downers Grove Illinois

Message: 11
Date: Tue, 16 May 2006 15:21:09 -0400
From: "George Hazelton" <ghazelton at mail.henry.public.lib.ga.us>
Subject: [Publib] Temp placement service wants to use meeting room
To: <publib at webjunction.org>
Message-ID: <006b01c6791d$e2cf5990$4101a8c0 at HCLSGHAZELTON>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Hire Dynamics, LLC, a temporary staffing agency, has approached us
asking to
use one of our meeting rooms for a "job fair."  My gut feeling is that
this
is not a good idea; they are private, for profit, and why should we
enhance
their bottom line by providing a free venue for what might well be no
more
than a recruiting effort.  If the State Department of Labor or a
non-profit
wanted to hold a job fair, I'd feel differently.

Furthermore, I think it would set a dangerous precedent.

Any thoughts?
 
George Hazelton
Assistant Director
Henry County Library System
1001 Florence McGarity Pkwy