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PLATTEKILL PUBLIC LIBRARY

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION POLICY

Adopted: July 14, 2011

In compliance with Public Offices Law, article 6, and Executive Law, §206a [1§] §208, the Board of Trustees of the Plattekill Public Library adopts this Freedom of Information Law Policy.

RECORDS ACCESS OFFICER

As Chief Executive Officer of the Plattekill Public Library, the Library Director is hereby designated to be the Records Access Officer of the Library.

The Records Access Officer shall:

Respond to all inquiries relating to the availability to the public of the office’s records pursuant to the Freedom of Information Law within a specified five days following receipt of request

Receive and process requests for access to records in the manner prescribed by law

Maintain a current list of records, indexed according to subject matter, for public inspection

Comply with these and all other duties as itemized in Section §50.3 of the Law

SUBJECT MATTER LIST

The Records Access Officer shall maintain and make available for public inspection and copying a correct list, by subject matter, of these records, as enumerated within the Freedom of Information Law, which are available for public inspection. The subject matter list shall be updated no less frequently than twice per year and shall be ready for public scrutiny within thirty (30) days of passage of this policy.

FOIL REQUESTS

Shall be submitted to the Records Access Officer in writing and shall specify whether the petitioner wishes to see and read the requested item or receive a copy

Shall be answered within five business days (Monday through Friday) of the date the request is received. If the document/information is not immediately available, the Records Access Officer shall notify the requesting individual when and how the requested record will be available

Shall be sufficiently detailed to identify the specific document requested

Shall include the name, mailing address, and telephone number of the requesting individual

May require payment for copies

INSPECTING AND/OR COPYING RECORDS

If access to records is granted, records may be inspected by the public at the Library in the presence of the Records Access Officer or his/her designee during regular hours of Library operation. If the original of the record includes information, details and/or particulars requiring deletion, the individual requesting shall only be permitted to inspect a copy of the record with deletions.

Copying of the record will be performed by the Records Access Officer upon payment of the fee established by the Board of Trustees.

No original record may be removed from the office where the record is kept.

DENIAL OF REQUESTS

Should the Records Access Officer deny access, said denial may be appealed to the Board of Trustees by the individual requesting the record.

FEES

No fee may be charged for:

Inspection of the itemized records, prepared pursuant to section §7(3)(b) of the Freedom of Information Law setting forth the name, address, title, and salary of each officer or employee of the office

Inspection of records which do not require deletion of any parts thereof

Inspection of a copy of a record which required deletion

Inspection of any other document which is available at the discretion of the

Library Director

The fee for a copy of a record which does not exceed either 8.5” in width or 11” in length shall be twenty-five cents (25¢) per page.

PUBLIC NOTICE

The Records Access Officer shall cause public notice to be posted near the Circulation Desk of the Library informing members of the public of:

The Records Access Officer’s business address and business telephone number

The time and place records will be made available for inspection and copying

The right to appeal by any person denied access to records

The name, business address, and business telephone number of the Records Appeals Officer.

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION LAW

Any details not specified in this policy should be located in the actual law, which may be found at http://www.ofl.state.ny.us.FOIL.Regs.htm