Meeting Rooms Guidelines

This policy applies the Henry Flipper Meeting Room and all other Thomas County Public Library System meeting and conference room spaces.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Thomas County Public Library meeting and conference rooms is to provide a space for library/library-related activities and community, non-profit events and activities. The needs of the Library and the Friends of the Library group will take precedence. The library reserves the right to cancel or reschedule any meeting or move a meeting into a different room in the event of a meeting room conflict.

All state and local fire codes must be observed in addition to all city or county ordinances.

Acceptable Use

• The meeting and conference rooms are available for use by educational, cultural, civic, social, political, religious (administrative purposes only), professional, and other non-profit organizations, or to persons volunteering as tutors as part of a non-profit program.
• Businesses may use the meeting and conference rooms for training or other purposes as long as no commercial activity transpires.
• The meeting rooms may not be used for private parties or private celebrations, such as wedding receptions, birthday parties, baby showers, etc.
• The meeting and conference rooms are not available to non-library related or sponsored groups, or individuals for the promotion or sale of services or products, fundraising, soliciting, or conducting classes for profit.
• No admission or attendance charge or required donation may be assessed by any non-library group using the meeting and conference rooms.
• All meetings held in the meeting and conference rooms must be open to the general public.
• Groups using the meeting and conference rooms shall clean, return tables/chairs to their original positions and vacate rooms fifteen (15) minutes prior to closing time of the library.

Availability

The meeting and conference rooms are available during regular library business hours only, unless prior approval is received from the Library Director or designated representative.

Meetings must end, furniture returned to original positions and trash put in trash cans at least fifteen minutes before the library’s closing time. The person that reserved the room MUST check out with library staff before exiting the building.

The meeting and conference rooms will not be available when the library is closed due to bad weather, holidays, or other emergency conditions.

Reservations

The meeting and conference rooms must be reserved at least 24 hours in advance. Walk-in requests may be considered by the Director or designated representative when rooms are not in use. The requester must be an adult and will be held responsible for the orderly conduct of the group, and in the event of any damage to library property and/or equipment that individual will be liable.

The library also reserves the right to reject any application if it is determined that the organization has abused its past privileges in using the meeting and conference rooms. Reservations are not considered confirmed until the completed and signed application form is received by the library. Reservations for the meeting and conference rooms may be accepted for on-going daily (short-term), weekly, or monthly meetings provided the requestor/group has not previously violated the meeting room policy. Ongoing reservations may be suspended if the Director determines that adequate and fair accessibility for all persons/groups to reserve the rooms has become too limited.

The Library Director or designated representative must approve all reservations as well as signs announcing the meetings. All reservations must include setup and breakdown time.

Cancellations must be received at least 24 hours prior to meeting. Persons/groups failing to attend scheduled meetings without notifying the library of room reservation cancelation may be subject to future reservation restrictions.

Food, Refreshments, and Smoking

Simple refreshments and snacks may be served, but are restricted to the meeting rooms and are not permitted in other parts of the library except during library-sponsored events.

Cooking, smoking and alcoholic beverages are prohibited. A group serving refreshments is responsible for providing all serving containers/utensils and for cleaning up following the meeting.

The requester will accept responsibility for assuring that no alcoholic beverages or controlled substances are brought into the Library.

Furniture, Equipment, Etc.

Requesters are responsible for arranging the chairs, tables, and other equipment to meet their own needs and leaving the room in the order in which it is found, vacuuming if necessary, and putting trash in appropriate receptacles. Library materials or equipment stored in the area should not be moved.

Library staff is not available to operate equipment unless the event is library sponsored.

No material of any kind can be posted directly on the walls of the meeting and conference rooms unless prior approval is received from the Library Director or his/her designated representative. Non-library materials and equipment used by the group must be removed at the end of the meeting.

Under no circumstances should the Henry Flipper Meeting Room users attempt to operate the divider panels that separate Flipper Rooms A and B. For liability purposes, only qualified library staff are authorized to operate the room divider.

Liability

The library makes no endorsement, expressed or implied, of any non-library event or activity held in the Thomas County Public Library meeting and conference rooms. The Library Board and the library staff do not assume any liability for groups or individuals attending any meeting or program in the library. Any person(s) or group using the meeting and conference rooms agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Thomas County Public Library, The Library Broad of Trustees, Thomas County and the City of Thomasville and their employees from any liability relating to use of the Library meeting and conference rooms.

The Applicant shall be financially responsible for any damage to furniture or rooms.

To make a reservation request for one of our Librarys’ meeting and/or conference rooms, fill out the Request Form HERE.