Open Conduct of Business & Records Retention Policy

The business of the Orcas Island Public Library and its Taxing District will be conducted openly and ethically at all times, meeting or exceeding the requirements of government regulations such as the Open Public Meetings Act, the Public Records Act, and the Public Disclosure Act. Some business occasions will require the discretion allowed by approved regulations, such as provisions for Executive Session and for employee privacy, and those occasions will also be governed by the intent of the Library and the District to conduct business ethically and for the public good.

Sometimes it may be necessary or effective for business to be conducted between or among less than a majority of the District's governing body (the District Board of Trustees) outside of duly established public meetings. If such conduct of business takes written form, it will be entered into the Library's public records for management and disclosure according to legal and ethical requirements. The originator (or recipient) will provide that written form (or a copy) to the Library Director. The Library Director will incorporate that written record into the Library's standard procedures for managing public records.

The District Trustees will be responsible individually for providing the Library Director with a copy of written conduct of business which a Trustee originates or, if the originator is not a Trustee, receives.

The Library Director will establish with the Library staff the operational procedures for managing the Director's and the staff's written conduct of business which normally takes place through records that are already in the Library's custody.

Written conduct of business is defined as the written exchange of ideas on the subject of Library or District official public business. The Library Director is the authority for determining qualifying written conduct of business once the Library creates or receives a written record.

The Library Director may also designate any material as historically interesting or significant, and therefore available to the Library's public records management and disclosure procedures.

The Library District follows guidelines established for paper and electronic records by the State Archives for retention, safekeeping, and backup. When no specific such guideline exists, the District will follow procedures that are similar in form and intent; and when appropriate, will use information and other support services provided by the State Archives for records handling.

Adopted as Open Conduct of Business Policy January 11, 2005

Reviewed 4/2006

Revised as Open Conduct of Business and Records Retention Policy July 13, 2009