Libraries With Limitations

Long Island’s Newsday is not too happy with the state of affairs in about a quarter of the island’s libraries.

These suburban New York libraries are not subject to the Freedom of Information Law or Civil Service Law and are not required to hold public trustee elections because they are “association libraries,” technically not-for-profits that contract with school districts or municipalities.

Robert J. Freeman, who chairs New York’s Committee on Open Government, said the refusals are entirely legal, but go against the very nature of libraries. “The notion of the library involves sharing and disseminating information. For an association library to clamp down on information regarding its operations seems ironic.”