Public Meeting Space

[council4_vaughan]

The purpose of my motion last night was to give us a chance to decide if having a public meeting space is a service we want to provide to the community. If we pass the policy for the library as written, it really makes renting the library difficult for these nonprofit or citizen groups. They don't want to book a room and share that with the public if they could be bumped at any time (as the policy reads). Before staff spends any time developing a policy or looking into this further, I wanted to ask you guys if a public meeting space is something we should offer. If yes, then let's look at what spaces make sense, when those spaces should be offered and how they can be rented. If not, then we don't need to pursue this any further.

My opinion is that having a public meeting space is a good service to offer and I would like to continue it. I think we could spread it around different facilities at times they are typically not used for paid rentals (if it is too cumbersome for the library). It doesn't mean that we have to block off those dates for only public meetings. Reservations would still be first come, first served on those dates. But, we would not want to allow free, public meetings during prime paid rental windows.

What do you guys think? Is this worth looking into or should we make the library meeting room only for the library and not offer free, public meeting spaces?

 

[council5_bulman]

I agree. I think this is a good service we should be providing to residents. It’s a shame our library is so small that we don’t have a ton of options at the library like in other cities. However, I also think it’s great the library has amped up its programs to the community. It would be nice to have both a free meeting room and awesome library programs so offering up other locations I think is a great idea.

I also think it’s an amazing marketing strategy for the golf course, cinnamoron clubhouse etc. If you use the space during a free time other people may rent it out based on going to the meeting or whatever is being held in the space. I don’t think it needs to be a ton of time but having a schedule would help residents out. Say the library is free Monday 8am-5pm, Clubhouse Tuesday 8-5, Golf course Wednesday 8am-12pm etc etc. Maybe even city hall has time the council room is free.

Anytime we can offer a service to the community for free I think just makes UC an even better place and builds more community!

 

[council3_rubal]

There are pros and cons. Let’s focus on the library room for now and I offer this link to review from the American Library Association.

Meeting Rooms Q&A

Many libraries provide meeting rooms and other spaces designated for use by the public for meetings and other events as a service to their communities. This Q&A outlines the differences between varying public fora and examples of items a meeting room policy can cover. The Q&A also addresses...

www.ala.org

First, “a public library is not obligated to provide access to its meeting rooms and other facilities”, and second, any offering of public meeting space has an overhead for the City. (Ok it would never be as expensive as the cost of the beverage cart service for nonresidents at the golf course, but still a cost.).

Also, there are practical considerations. The experience of a former Council member using the library room to meet with residents on weekends proved onerous and included a lockout that ultimately resulted in a move to Council chambers. My personal experience with arrangements for the library room to meet residents (before an election) was frustrating with a confirmed reservation being canceled only after the return of library staff from a vacation. Our library and Bexar Co elections take rightful precedence for using this facility. It would therefore require a commitment from library staff to accurately project their use on a schedule for a reasonable period to prevent cancelations. Finally, from attendance at a past Parks meeting (last year), there appeared to be resistance to using this facility for scheduling even senior Parks programs. I do not have current information if there was a resolution on this issue, but it is somewhat related to public use of this facility.

Historically, the public use of our Library facility has benefited our community. I encourage all Council members to review the ALA link for suggested policies that should be in place for public usage of the library room. It would be reasonable to expect similar policy statements would be in effect for any offering of City facilities or space. Finally, a legal review of policies likely would be needed. With a true commitment by staff to scheduling, reasonable cost estimates for execution, and effective policies in place, the continued use of the library room (and perhaps other City facilities) as a public meeting space would be value-added to our community.

 

[council4_vaughan]

A resident shared an open records request with me on the utilization of the Cimarron clubhouse. The forum wont let me attach a spreadsheet or I would. It covers the 18 months ended June 30, 2024. Here is the summary:

My take away is that it is very well utilized on Saturday and Sunday (at 97% and 90% respectively). However, it is rarely used on Tuesdays-Thursdays. Mondays are mildly better, probably because of holidays.

So, it seems to me that we could offer (not block off) Tuesday-Thursday at Cimarron and non-holiday Mondays for public meetings. If we layered on Sunday and Monday at the Library when it is closed, that gets almost a full week of availability for public meetings.

The library could set whatever rental policy they want on Tuesday through Saturday during library hours but have more accommodating polices when it is closed. Then cimarron would allow for public meetings Tuesday through Thursday and non-holiday Mondays. It would be a first come first served basis. It would not preclude paying rentals.

I would still want to take a look at the rules on what qualifies as a public meeting and what if any deposits would be required.

What do you guys think?

 

[council3_rubal]

I would like to thank the resident for obtaining the data and the Council member for posting.

 

[council5_bulman]

I think that would be an amazing service to offer residents. That way the library doesn’t have to worry about scheduling conflicts and residents don’t have to worry about being cancelled on. I think this is a win win win. Considering some people may rent it for the week, realize it’s awesome and pay for it on the weekend. Great marketing and great thing to offer the community.