Meeting Room Use Policy – Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick, Maine: Approved by Curtis Board of Directors 08-19-2010, revised and approved 8-6-2024

 

Meeting Room Use Policy

Use of the Library’s Meeting Rooms (Morrell Meeting Room, Seminar Room, Technology Room-2nd floor, Tutoring Rooms and other public meeting spaces) is governed by the following policy:

Use:

Meeting Rooms are reserved for Library and Town (including the Towns of Brunswick and Harpswell) programs, and when available, for use by the public. Public use is limited to Brunswick and Harpswell community/nonprofit organizations or businesses for noncommercial purposes, and nonprofit organizations with a target audience that includes Brunswick or Harpswell.

Nonprofit organizations with headquarters outside Brunswick and Harpswell, but with a service area or constituents in Brunswick or Harpswell may also make reservations with the following restriction:  a Brunswick or Harpswell resident affiliated with the group must be named as a local contact to address any questions.

Any person making a room reservation must be 18 years of age or older, or if a younger person arranges an event, a responsible adult must agree to sponsor/supervise the event, be listed as co-contact and arrange for an adult to be in attendance at the event.

The Library reserves the following rights to be applied at the discretion of the Library Director:

  • To require an organization to provide a police presence (organized and paid for by that organization) to ensure the safety and security of their event.
  • To require an organization to obtain its own insurance (obtained and paid for by that organization) for use of the Morrell Meeting Room.
  • To require that marketing materials indicate that an event is NOT sponsored by Curtis Memorial Library.

Fees:

  1. Morrell Meeting Room

Non-admission Event – General Use Fee:  $25/hour of reserved time with a minimum of $40.  This applies to activities or events that do not involve any registration fee or admission, and are not intended for fundraising purposes.

Admission-based or Fundraising Event Fee:  $35/hour of reserved time with a minimum of $50. This covers activities or events for which an admission or registration fee is charged, or which are intended as fundraisers.

  1. Other Meeting Areas: The Library does not charge a fee for the use of the Seminar Room or other meeting areas. Donations by users to support the maintenance of these areas are encouraged.
  2. Equipment: Fees for use of specific equipment supplied by the Library may be set by the Library Director.

Services Provided:

The organization sponsoring an event is responsible for setting up the room before the event, and for clearing the room at the conclusion of the event. The Library is not obligated to provide any support for set-up or break-down, irrespective of any fees paid to the Library.

Priority for Scheduling:

Reservations will be made on a first-come-first-served basis, with priority given to the Library, official Brunswick and Harpswell town activities, Brunswick schools and Harpswell elementary schools, followed by Brunswick and Harpswell nonprofit organizations.  The Library may allow for-profit organizations to use the Morrell Meeting Room at the Library Director’s discretion.

Allowed Frequency of Scheduling:

With the exception of use by the Library, Towns, schools, and/or formal Library partners, no unlimited ongoing schedule of events is permitted. For any one organization, no more than four active reservations are allowed to be in effect at any one time.

Scheduled Hours:

All meeting spaces with the exception of the Morrell Meeting Room are accessible only during hours in which the Library is open to the public.

The Morrell Meeting Room is available for use before, during, and after regular Library hours at the discretion of the Library Director. For before/after hour use, the contact person for the organization or designee is responsible for receiving the key, security code, opening/closing instructions, and return of the key. A Library staff person will be designated to provide the key/information during regular Library hours.  All groups using the Morrell Meeting Room are expected to lock the doors and set the security codes consistently.  If the room is not secured properly on a consistent basis, the Library Director has the discretion to not allow further use of the room by that organization when the Library is not open.

For the benefit of our neighbors, all use of the Morrell Meeting Room must end by 10:00pm.

For use of any other Library space outside of regular hours (i.e. exceptions approved by the Library Director), a member of the Library staff, or another person designated by the Library Director must assume responsibility for that use, and must be in attendance for the duration of the event.

Activities Permitted:

Users must indicate the intended use and the number of people expected to be present.  The following uses are specifically permitted; others may be permitted at the discretion of the Library Director:

  • Meetings
  • Lectures, film showings and demonstrations
  • Community programs
  • Information fairs, displays
  • Service of beverages, sandwiches, and light snacks

Users of the Morrell Meeting Room should understand that the Library is in a residential area.  Therefore, we ask that you not have programs with music/sound that can be heard past the Library property.  If a complaint is received about noise, the Library Director has the right to not allow any further use of the Morrell Meeting Room by the organization creating the noise issue.

Activities Not Permitted:

The following uses are specifically not permitted:

  • Service of full course meals, banquets
  • Alcoholic beverages
  • Birthday parties, weddings
  • Affixing banners, signs, artwork or other materials to walls, fixtures or other areas of the rooms except with the express approval of Library Director or designee

Variances:

This policy is subject to discretionary variances which may be granted only by the Library Director.

Variance added 2/16/22: MMR bookings may be issued a refund if the cancellation occurs at least 24 hours before the booking start time. Cancellations within the 24-hour window will not be issued refunds.
[Approved by Curtis Board of Directors 08-19-2010]