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Meeting Room Policy
The purpose of this policy is to insure an orderly, peaceful and efficient use of
library meeting rooms and equipment so as to accommodate and provide fair access to as
many groups and organizations as is reasonably possible.
- Auditorium and meeting places of the St. Louis Public Library shall be made available
free of charge to groups and organizations whose memberships are composed primarily of
residents of the City of St. Louis. An adult over the age of 18 must be responsible and in
attendance at meetings.
- Meetings shall be open to the public.
- No meeting shall cause undue interference with the operation of the library. Meetings
shall not conflict with library sponsored programs and in the event of such conflict the
library program shall receive priority.
- Organizations shall be legal and non-profit: their purposes and objectives must be in
the public interest. The use of the meeting rooms shall not result in financial gain for
the organization or its members.
- Applications for the use of the meeting rooms shall be made in writing to a member of
the library staff who has been assigned responsibility for scheduling such meetings.
Application forms are available at any St. Louis Public Library location.
- Meeting rooms may be reserved a maximum of three months in advance of a public meeting.
Library-related programs shall receive priority in scheduling. Outside groups interested
in using the Library’s Computer Training Centers should contact the Deputy Director’s
office at 539-0341. Specific policies apply and are listed in the Computer Facilities
Policy.
- Under normal circumstances, at most locations, a group may not book a meeting room more
than one time a month. The Library shall determine any exceptions based on the space
available, the time and day requested, and intervals between meetings.
- There shall be neither admission fees nor collections. No monies will be exchanged on
library property. Solicitations and the selling of products or services are
prohibited.
- No food or refreshments shall be served. Smoking is prohibited.
- Equipment or furniture belonging to any group shall not be stored in library buildings
without the written permission of the library. Space, staff, and activities of the library
will determine whether storage is permitted. The library will not assume responsibility
when materials, etc., are left on the premises.
- Any group desiring to use library owned equipment in the meeting rooms must make a
written request for its use. Groups using such equipment shall assume financial
responsibility for any damage to, or theft of, equipment in their possession.
- Any group using a meeting room is expected to conduct its proceedings in a quiet,
orderly manner. Groups using the room are responsible for reasonable care of the room, and
will be held responsible for any damage and the general condition of the room following
use. Standard room arrangement of chairs and tables is provided. Special arrangements
should be requested on the application form. Fees may be charged for special arrangements
of furniture and equipment use.
- Meetings shall be held during hours when library staff members are regularly on duty and
shall be finished in sufficient time to vacate the buildings no later than closing time.
In the event that a meeting is canceled, the library shall be notified so that this space
may be made available to others. Meetings will not be scheduled on Sunday without approval
of the Library Administration.
- Meetings held by outside groups are not programs sponsored by the library. Purposes,
objectives or views of groups using the meeting rooms shall not be advertised in any way
to suggest that they are endorsed by the St. Louis Public Library. Any publicity for the
meeting must include the statement "This is not a program sponsored by the St. Louis
Public Library." Any phone number on the publicity must be that of the organization
hosting the meeting, not the library.
- The Administration of the St. Louis Public Library shall be the final authority in
granting or refusing permission for the use of the meeting facilities.
- The Library reserves the right to refuse future bookings to groups that fail to appear
on scheduled meeting dates or do not abide by any of the above policies.
Terms used above have been defined and are available at all Library locations.
AUDITORIUM & MEETING ROOM POLICY
Explanation of Terms in the Policy
ORGANIZATIONS: An organization is not limited to individuals over 18. An adult over
the age of 18 must be responsible and in attendance at meetings. For large groups of
children, a minimum ratio is one adult to five juveniles.
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC: It is acceptable that meetings will be of specific interest to
members of an organization. However, all meetings shall be open to the public. EXCEPTION:
A public governmental body may hold a closed executive session pursuant to the Sunshine
Law (Chapter 610, RSMo) if the executive session is held in conjunction with an open
meeting.
This policy is not interpreted to mean that all must be guaranteed access to a meeting
if the capacity of the facility has been reached and additional participants would result
in safety or fire hazards. It does not preclude limiting the number of participants in the
workshop or course where such a limitation is essential to the effective presentation of
the workshop or course. However, such limitations must be announced in advance.
UNDUE INTERFERENCE: No meeting should cause major difficulties in accomplishing the
library’s circulation, reference, or program function.
Undue interference could be caused by:
- crowds too large for meeting space available.
- insufficient parking places for library patrons as a result of the meeting.
- noise level of the group. The location of the meeting rooms in relation to the reading
room is important. The same activity may not be acceptable in a building with meeting
rooms adjacent to the reading room as in one where meeting rooms are on another floor.
ADMISSION FEES: Tuition and supply costs assessed by tax supported institutions or
not-for-profit organizations incorporated in the State of Missouri are considered neither
admission fees nor collections. Adult education courses and university extension courses
are examples of programs that may be approved.
For other non-profit workshops or instructional programs, a fee, not to exceed the
costs of materials used at the session, may be charged. No one may be excluded from the
meeting because such materials’ charges are not paid. Craft workshops, safety
instruction courses, and adult education programs are some of the types of meetings that
may have materials’ charge. Materials’ charge does not authorize a group to pay
an instructor or speaker through attendance, admission or speakers’ fees or to ask
for donations to cover organizational expenses.
COLLECTION: In keeping with Board policy that all meetings must be open to the
public, no monies may be exchanged on library premises. Nothing may be sold or exchanged
to raise money. Organizational dues, tuition, supply costs, etc., must be collected
elsewhere. However, the failure to pay such fees will not be reason to deny anyone
attendance at meetings. Attendance at a meeting does not require an organization to extend
the attendee voting rights, credit hours, supplies, etc., included in fees. Solicitations
and the selling of products or services are not permitted on library property.
FINANCIAL GAIN: The Missouri Constitution prohibits the use of tax monies for
private gain; therefore, any individual or group to which personal or collective financial
gain would accrue through the use of the meeting rooms will be denied use of these
facilities.
Examples of meetings that would not qualify include:
- lecture or workshops where the fees are returned directly to the lecturer.
- tutors paid by individual(s) for being tutored.
- sales or promotion meetings.
- Employee training sessions for profit-making organizations.
- business or organizational meetings of unions, management or employee association.
- investment groups where decisions to buy/sell are made.
Adopted by the Board of Directors: April 3, 2000
