The meetings of the Board of Trustees of the Woodridge Public Library are open to members of the public. The Open Meetings Act provides that any person shall be permitted an opportunity to address public officials under the rules established and recorded by the public body (5 ILCS 120/2.06(g)).
The rules established for public comments at Board meetings by the Woodridge Public Library are as follows:
Time for public comment shall be made available at all Board meetings of the Woodridge Public Library. Comments are permitted during the time designated on the Library Board agenda, unless otherwise directed by the Board President. Members of the public are encouraged to submit written comments to the Board, which may be done at any time.
The Woodridge Public Library shall allow three (3) minutes per speaker for public comment unless additional time is granted by the presiding officer. A maximum of thirty (30) minutes shall be allowed for speakers at each meeting.
Each speaker is required to sign in to speak before the commencement of the meeting. Speakers shall be called in order. If the time allocated for public comment has elapsed, then the remaining speakers will retain their place and have the opportunity to speak first at the next Board meeting, if they want to do so.
Public comment is limited to matters relevant to Library business. Issues relevant to Library business are defined to mean information about Library events; issues that the Library has the authority to address; items listed on the agenda; and items or issues previously voted on by the Library Board or that the Library Board has the authority to consider or vote on in the future.
The Board President may cut off or stop a speaker if the public comment is irrelevant to Library business, unreasonably repetitious, or substantially disruptive. No language, conduct, or commentary shall be tolerated or allowed that unreasonably provokes or disturbs another and provokes a breach of the peace.
Board members may, but will generally not, respond to comments from speakers. The Board President, other presiding officer or the Library Director may respond as appropriate and, for example, direct speakers to the appropriate staff member for assistance. The Board may comment, take action, or not take action with respect to a public comment at a future Board meeting, as it deems appropriate.
Minutes are a summary of the Board’s discussions and actions. Speaker requests to append written statement or correspondence to the minutes are not favored. Generally, written materials presented to the Board will be included in the Library’s files rather than in the minutes.
Approved by the Woodridge Public Library Board of Trustees 2/20/2019
