Meeting Room Use Policy

Due to the Library remodeling project scheduled to begin after the New Year, we will be unable to host any public meetings beginning January 2, 2023 through the completion of the project. We apologize for the inconvenience. 

The Durham Public Library views the use of the Library meeting rooms as an extension of library service. Although the chief use of these spaces is for the presentation of library programs, the rooms are available to the community for civic, informational or cultural activities.

Only noncommercial, civic or governmental groups may use the rooms free of charge.  Rooms are not available for social, money-raising events, or for the benefit of private individuals. Library sponsored fund-raising events are permitted.

With the exception of Town Boards, Commissions and Committees or elected officials, all groups wishing to use a meeting room must submit an Application for Use of a Meeting Room, available at the Library (see appendix.) The representative filing the application must be 18 or older. The meeting is not scheduled until approved by the director or her/his designee.

The Board subscribes to Article IV of the Library Bill of Rights which states that facilities should be made available to the public served by the given library on an equitable basis, regardless of the beliefs or affiliations of individuals or groups requesting their use.

The fact that a group is permitted to use the rooms does not in any way constitute an endorsement of the group’s beliefs or purposes by the Library.

Priority Booking

The use of the rooms shall be governed by the following descending order of priority:

a.         The Durham Public Library

b.         PALS: Friends of the Durham Public Library

c.         Town Boards and Commissions

d.         Durham community organizations

e.         Other groups in Durham

The availability of meeting space at all other times shall be on a first-come, first-served basis. The Library will assign the rooms available according to group size, space needs and other Library requirements. The Library cannot guarantee the same room to groups that meet on a regular basis.

Rules

  • No fees may be charged
  • All meetings must be open to the public
  • Smoking and alcoholic beverages are not permitted
  • Meeting space must be returned to its original condition or set-up
  • Groups may not post signs at the library
  • Library telephone number may not be given out for information about the group’s event
  • Groups must adhere to posted fire codes regarding the number of persons allowed in the room
  • The Library reserves the right to cancel any meeting because of adverse weather conditions or for other emergency reasons
  • Users of the meeting room must be considerate of library patrons and therefore must not disrupt normal library operations
  • Organizations may use the Library’s audio-visual equipment only under the supervision of an available staff member. Arrangements for use of audio-visual equipment must be made at the time of booking
  • Arrangements for use of the library kitchen in conjunction with a meeting must be made at the time of booking. All kitchen equipment used must be thoroughly cleaned and put away in its original condition

Businesses

The Durham Public Library supports local economic development efforts and therefore makes available the use of the meeting rooms to Durham-based businesses.

  • Businesses may use the meeting rooms for a donation of $50 for half a day   (three hours or less) and $100 for a full day (more than three hours), during library hours
  • All donations will be used to support the Durham Public Library
  • Rooms may be used for informational meetings, no products or services may be advertised, solicited or sold
  • The library may not be used as the official address or headquarters of a business
  • Sponsors of  meetings open to the public may not require sign-in of attendees nor should any follow-up contact be made at the sponsor’s initiation
  • No admission may be charged

Businesses must provide a Certificate of Insurance naming the Town of Durham as additional insured, and an Indemnification form (hold harmless agreement).

Description of Meeting Rooms

Lower level:

Left Durham Conference Center                    Capacity   80

Right (children’s activity room)                      Capacity   55

Combined use of both rooms                         Capacity 135

Main level:

P.A.L.S Gallery and Meeting Room                Capacity   50

All rooms are handicapped accessible.

Currently, only the Durham Conference Center (lower level left) is available for use. Room capacity is limited to 30 persons and masks are required. To request use of a Library meeting room, please fill out the online Meeting Room Reservation form. Meeting room availability is not confirmed until you receive a confirmation from the Library.
https://durhamlibrary.org/using-the-library/library-policies/meeting-room-policy/
durhamlibrary.org
crawl=CC-MAIN-2022-40
52459
application/http; msgtype=response
sha1:EPAM5NNNCJGS5663RRZJQM4QM4VYRXOL
<urn:uuid:ecefb17d-f187-4f45-8d59-9e811d533456>
2022-10-01T17:22:34Z
207.210.128.37
text/html
sha1:67ALZQGW4EV5P6QJSA7W33DYRU72BB2I
<urn:uuid:9113121b-9415-4724-bffe-7ab8f621cb96>
https://durhamlibrary.org/using-the-library/library-policies/meeting-room-policy/
response
<urn:uuid:7da71cc4-9351-4c17-af55-7bd64156e0c6>
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2022-40
publisher: Common Crawl
description: Wide crawl of the web for September/October 2022
operator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)
hostname: ip-10-67-67-45
software: Apache Nutch 1.19 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)
robots: checked via crawler-commons 1.4-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)
format: WARC File Format 1.1
conformsTo: https://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/