Board of Trustees

Next Meeting: May 13, 2025, 4:00 P.M. at LaVale Library

The public is welcome to attend in-person or via the online Zoom Meeting platform. To ensure a secure online meeting, those interested in attending via Zoom can send an email to boardmeeting@alleganycountylibrary.info to request the meeting credentials. Email requests for attending will be accepted until 1:00 PM the day before the meeting.

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Past meeting minutes and other documents:

March 11, 2025 Meeting Minutes

February 18, 2025 Meeting Minutes

January 14, 2025 Meeting Minutes

November 12, 2024 Meeting Minutes

About the Library Board

The seven members of the Allegany County Library System Library Board of Trustees are responsible for establishment of all policy decisions regarding the operational, personnel, and financial activities of the Allegany County Library System.  The Board also has the responsibility to review all expenditures made by the Library, and generally directs activities of the Library Director in the implementation of same.  Trustees are unpaid volunteers appointed by the Allegany County Commissioners.  They are governed by the duties and responsibilities outlined in the appropriate sections of the Laws of Maryland Relating to Public Libraries.

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Statement on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

Allegany County Library System is dedicated to fostering an inclusive and welcoming environment where all patrons feel they belong and can be active members of our community. We are committed to promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion in all aspects of our services and programs, ensuring equal access to information, resources, and opportunities for everyone.

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Endorsement of the Freedom to Read and View

The Board of Trustees of the Allegany County Library System is charged with the responsibility to set policies and procedures that enable the library system to fulfill its mission “to enrich and improve the lives of those in the community we serve.”   

With regard to library materials and events and programs,  we believe that we cannot predetermine or specify which materials or events and programs will in fact enrich or improve the lives of those we serve.     Therefore, our Collection Development Policy states that “books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people in the community we serve.  Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues”.  We believe that our community should have the freedom to consider a broader range of ideas than those that may be held by any single individual, publisher, government or church. 

We believe that it is every person’s responsibility to select materials and events and programs they wish to read or view as well as select what not to read or view.     Parents and legal guardians are responsible for their children’s use of library materials and for selecting which events to attend.  Parents and legal guardians are encouraged to define what material or information is consistent with their personal and family beliefs; only they can apply those values for themselves and their children.

This personal exercise of the freedom of choice of what to read or view is protected by the U.S. Constitution’s  First Amendment.  The reliance on freedom of individual choice also allows the library system to fulfill our obligation to provide a wide array of materials to enrich and improve the lives of those in the community we serve.  

The Board of Trustees of the Allegany County Library System believe that all citizens shall have the right to free inquiry and the right to form their own opinions. Censorship in any form is not only a threat to individual knowledge and growth, but to the foundation of our democracy.

In addition, we endorse and support the ALA Library Bill of Rights. 

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Guidelines for Public Comment

The public comment period is an essential part of local government meetings. These are our guidelines for public comment periods in regular meetings of the Allegany County Library System Board of Trustees (Board).

It is important for the Board and for the public to be very clear about the purpose of the public comment period. This is an opportunity for members of the public to inform the Board about their views. The meeting itself belongs to the Board. The public does not PARTICIPATE in the decision-making. Instead, it PROVIDES INPUT to the Board, which takes the input into consideration in making its decisions.

Comments from members of the audience are reserved for the Public Comment Period of the meeting agenda.

• All speakers should address their remarks to the chair.
• All speakers should give their name and address.
• All speakers should keep to the predetermined time limits.
• The Board may vote to extend the time limit.
• Speakers may not give their time to other people.

The Board has the right to invite anyone to speak whom it wishes to hear from at other times
than the public comment period. This is done by unanimous consent or a majority vote.

Allegany County Library System
Board of Trustees
Approved April 14, 2020