Donations are accepted during hours of operation, at the discretion of the director. Donated materials may not be left outside the library or in the book drop. Items left outside the Library door or in the book drop may be discarded.
We generally accept
- Current paperbacks and hardcover books in good, clean, condition, both fiction and non-fiction, for children and adults.
- All gifts of books and other materials donated to the Library are considered outright and unrestricted gifts and become the Library’s property upon receipt.
We cannot use:
- Books in poor condition.
- Magazines or newspapers.
- Textbooks, almanacs, tax guides, travel guides, and encyclopedias.
- Technical books more than 3 years old.
Materials
- New Books, Reserved Books – 14 days
- Regular collections – 28 days
- Audiobooks (CD or Cassette) – 14 days
- DVDs, Video Cassettes – 7 days
- Periodicals (except latest issue) – 14 days
**As of January 2022, the Garwood Public Library is no longer charging fines for these items. However, we do encourage that items are returned on time so other patrons may enjoy them.
Library Cards
Library cards are generally issued to children as they finish Kindergarten, however, if a parent wants his/her child to have a library card sooner, they need only to come in a fill out an application. A parent/guardian must complete and sign the application, accepting responsibility for the minor child. There is a limit of five (5) books issued on a child’s card, with not more than two books on any one subject.
Adults (18 years and older) are issued a Library Card with proof of residence in Garwood (valid driver’s license, lease, or deed). There is a limit of 15 items per an adult card, with a limit of not more than two books on any one subject.
- YOUR LIBRARY CARD MUST BE PRESENTED FOR ANY BORROWING TRANSACTION. YOU MAY NOT LEND YOUR CARD TO ANOTHER PERSON. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL MATERIALS CHECKED OUT UNDER YOUR LIBRARY CARD NUMBER.
- First card is free. $2.00 charge assessed for first replacement, with an additional $2.00 for each occurrence thereafter.
- Damaged Cards: If your card becomes damaged beyond use, you may bring it to the Circulation Desk for replacement without charge.
- Renewals: Library cards are issued for a period of one year. Bring your card to the Circ Desk for an update. Renewals are free.
- Non-Resident Cards: A patron registered in a M.U.R.A.L. reciprocal borrowing library wishing to borrow from the Garwood Library, will be registered as a Non-Resident, subject to all the rules and regulations applicable.
Audio-Visuals
An audio-visual material may be borrowed by any Garwood Library card holder, or M.U.R.A.L. participant, in good standing, who is at least 18 years of age.
The library is pleased to offer facsimile (fax) transmission service. Library staff will send faxes for members of the public, but we will not receive them. The library will fax only domestically (including Hawaii and Alaska) at the rate of $1.00 per sheet. The library assumes no liability for a fax or faxes sent to a wrong number regardless of whether the number was misdialed by library staff or an incorrect number was initially provided by the sender. Unless the library dials a wrong number, fax payments are not refundable. All documents handled in the course of providing fax service will be held in strict confidence, as per the library’s policy on Confidentiality of Patron Records.
The freedom to read is essential to our democracy. It is continuously under attack. Private groups and public authorities in various parts of the country are working to remove or limit access to reading materials, to censor content in schools, to label “controversial” views, to distribute lists of “objectionable” books or authors, and to purge libraries. These actions apparently rise from a view that our national tradition of free expression is no longer valid; that censorship and suppression are needed to counter threats to safety or national security, as well as to avoid the subversion of politics and the corruption of morals. We, as individuals devoted to reading and as librarians and publishers responsible for disseminating ideas, wish to assert the public interest in the preservation of the freedom to read.
Most attempts at suppression rest on a denial of the fundamental premise of democracy: that the ordinary individual, by exercising critical judgment, will select the good and reject the bad. We trust Americans to recognize propaganda and misinformation, and to make their own decisions about what they read and believe. We do not believe they are prepared to sacrifice their heritage of a free press in order to be “protected” against what others think may be bad for them. We believe they still favor free enterprise in ideas and expression.
These efforts at suppression are related to a larger pattern of pressures being brought against education, the press, art and images, films, broadcast media, and the Internet. The problem is not only one of actual censorship. The shadow of fear cast by these pressures leads, we suspect, to an even larger voluntary curtailment of expression by those who seek to avoid controversy or unwelcome scrutiny by government officials.
Such pressure toward conformity is perhaps natural to a time of accelerated change. And yet suppression is never more dangerous than in such a time of social tension. Freedom has given the United States the elasticity to endure strain. Freedom keeps open the path of novel and creative solutions, and enables change to come by choice. Every silencing of a heresy, every enforcement of an orthodoxy, diminishes the toughness and resilience of our society and leaves it the less able to deal with controversy and difference.
Now as always in our history, reading is among our greatest freedoms. The freedom to read and write is almost the only means for making generally available ideas or manners of expression that can initially command only a small audience. The written word is the natural medium for the new idea and the untried voice from which come the original contributions to social growth. It is essential to the extended discussion that serious thought requires, and to the accumulation of knowledge and ideas into organized collections.
We believe that free communication is essential to the preservation of a free society and a creative culture. We believe that these pressures toward conformity present the danger of limiting the range and variety of inquiry and expression on which our democracy and our culture depend. We believe that every American community must jealously guard the freedom to publish and to circulate, in order to preserve its own freedom to read. We believe that publishers and librarians have a profound responsibility to give validity to that freedom to read by making it possible for the readers to choose freely from a variety of offerings.
The freedom to read is guaranteed by the Constitution. Those with faith in free people will stand firm on these constitutional guarantees of essential rights and will exercise the responsibilities that accompany these rights.
We therefore affirm these propositions:
It is in the public interest for publishers and librarians to make available the widest diversity of views and expressions, including those that are unorthodox, unpopular, or considered dangerous by the majority.
Creative thought is by definition new, and what is new is different. The bearer of every new thought is a rebel until that idea is refined and tested. Totalitarian systems attempt to maintain themselves in power by the ruthless suppression of any concept that challenges the established orthodoxy. The power of a democratic system to adapt to change is vastly strengthened by the freedom of its citizens to choose widely from among conflicting opinions offered freely to them. To stifle every nonconformist idea at birth would mark the end of the democratic process. Furthermore, only through the constant activity of weighing and selecting can the democratic mind attain the strength demanded by times like these. We need to know not only what we believe but why we believe it.
Publishers, librarians, and booksellers do not need to endorse every idea or presentation they make available. It would conflict with the public interest for them to establish their own political, moral, or aesthetic views as a standard for determining what should be published or circulated.
Publishers and librarians serve the educational process by helping to make available knowledge and ideas required for the growth of the mind and the increase of learning. They do not foster education by imposing as mentors the patterns of their own thought. The people should have the freedom to read and consider a broader range of ideas than those that may be held by any single librarian or publisher or government or church. It is wrong that what one can read should be confined to what another thinks proper.
It is contrary to the public interest for publishers or librarians to bar access to writings on the basis of the personal history or political affiliations of the author.
No art or literature can flourish if it is to be measured by the political views or private lives of its creators. No society of free people can flourish that draws up lists of writers to whom it will not listen, whatever they may have to say.
There is no place in our society for efforts to coerce the taste of others, to confine adults to the reading matter deemed suitable for adolescents, or to inhibit the efforts of writers to achieve artistic expression.
To some, much of modern expression is shocking. But is not much of life itself shocking? We cut off literature at the source if we prevent writers from dealing with the stuff of life. Parents and teachers have a responsibility to prepare the young to meet the diversity of experiences in life to which they will be exposed, as they have a responsibility to help them learn to think critically for themselves. These are affirmative responsibilities, not to be discharged simply by preventing them from reading works for which they are not yet prepared. In these matters values differ, and values cannot be legislated; nor can machinery be devised that will suit the demands of one group without limiting the freedom of others.
It is not in the public interest to force a reader to accept the prejudgment of a label characterizing any expression or its author as subversive or dangerous.
The ideal of labeling presupposes the existence of individuals or groups with wisdom to determine by authority what is good or bad for others. It presupposes that individuals must be directed in making up their minds about the ideas they examine. But Americans do not need others to do their thinking for them.
It is the responsibility of publishers and librarians, as guardians of the people’s freedom to read, to contest encroachments upon that freedom by individuals or groups seeking to impose their own standards or tastes upon the community at large; and by the government whenever it seeks to reduce or deny public access to public information.
It is inevitable in the give and take of the democratic process that the political, the moral, or the aesthetic concepts of an individual or group will occasionally collide with those of another individual or group. In a free society individuals are free to determine for themselves what they wish to read, and each group is free to determine what it will recommend to its freely associated members. But no group has the right to take the law into its own hands, and to impose its own concept of politics or morality upon other members of a democratic society. Freedom is no freedom if it is accorded only to the accepted and the inoffensive. Further, democratic societies are more safe, free, and creative when the free flow of public information is not restricted by governmental prerogative or self-censorship.
It is the responsibility of publishers and librarians to give full meaning to the freedom to read by providing books that enrich the quality and diversity of thought and expression. By the exercise of this affirmative responsibility, they can demonstrate that the answer to a “bad” book is a good one, the answer to a “bad” idea is a good one.
The freedom to read is of little consequence when the reader cannot obtain matter fit for that reader’s purpose. What is needed is not only the absence of restraint, but the positive provision of opportunity for the people to read the best that has been thought and said. Books are the major channel by which the intellectual inheritance is handed down, and the principal means of its testing and growth. The defense of the freedom to read requires of all publishers and librarians the utmost of their faculties, and deserves of all Americans the fullest of their support.
We state these propositions neither lightly nor as easy generalizations. We here stake out a lofty claim for the value of the written word. We do so because we believe that it is possessed of enormous variety and usefulness, worthy of cherishing and keeping free. We realize that the application of these propositions may mean the dissemination of ideas and manners of expression that are repugnant to many persons. We do not state these propositions in the comfortable belief that what people read is unimportant. We believe rather that what people read is deeply important; that ideas can be dangerous; but that the suppression of ideas is fatal to a democratic society. Freedom itself is a dangerous way of life, but it is ours.
This statement was originally issued in May of 1953 by the Westchester Conference of the American Library Association and the American Book Publishers Council, which in 1970 consolidated with the American Educational Publishers Institute to become the Association of American Publishers.
Adopted June 25, 1953, by the ALA Council and the AAP Freedom to Read Committee; amended January 28, 1972; January 16, 1991; July 12, 2000; June 30, 2004.
A Joint Statement by:
American Library Association
Association of American Publishers
Subsequently endorsed by:
American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression
The Association of American University Presses, Inc.
The Children’s Book Council
Freedom to Read Foundation
National Association of College Stores
National Coalition Against Censorship
National Council of Teachers of English
The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression
Adopted by the Garwood Public Library Board of Trustees on June 8, 2022.
- The library recognizes that sharing materials among libraries is an important element in the provision of library service. The library adheres to the Interlibrary Loan Code for the United States and recognizes its responsibilities with respect to prevailing copyright laws. Patrons availing themselves of interlibrary loan services must also respect the Interlibrary Loan Code for the United States, as well as prevailing copyright laws.
- Adult card holders (Garwood patrons only) in good standing are eligible to make interlibrary loan requests. The loan period for interlibrary loans is 28 days. An interlibrary loan may be recalled at any time at the discretion of the lending library.
- The fine for overdue interlibrary loan items is $.25 per day per item. Any expenses incurred as a result of obtaining an interlibrary loan, except shipping costs, are payable by the patron. Any charges for lost or damaged interlibrary loan materials will be those specified by the lending library. Any delay in resolving these charges will result in the suspension of borrowing privileges with respect to both interlibrary loans and materials from the library’s own collection.
- A patron may have no more than five interlibrary loans active at any one time. An interlibrary loan is considered active from the time a request is submitted by the patron until the time it is returned to the lending library.
- Interlibrary loans are made at the Circulation Desk. See desk for details.
- It is the goal of the Garwood Free Public Library to provide open access to information to its patrons; however, general rules of acceptable behavior apply to all who use the Internet stations.
- Because of the limited number of internet accessible computers in the Library, there is a thirty (30) minute time limit for patrons accessing the Internet. Patrons must sign at the Circulation Desk in order to access the public computers. Because of its location within the school complex, patrons under the age of 18 must have written parental permission to access the World Wide Web at the Garwood Public Library, unless accompanied by their classroom teacher. Permission forms are part of the Library Card application and may be changed at any time as a parent/guardian sees fit. A detailed description of acceptable Internet Use is posted at each internet workstation.
- CHILDREN EIGHT (8) YEARS AND YOUNGER MAY NOT USE THE INTERNET WORKSTATIONS UNLESS UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF A PARENT/ CAREGIVER, OR CLASSROOM TEACHER.
- AN INDIVIDUAL PATRON IS LIMITED TO NOT MORE THAN TWO HOURS PER DAY ON THE INTERNET WORKSTATIONS UNLESS APPROVED BY THE DIRECTOR OR SENIOR STAFF.
BECAUSE THE INTERNET WORKSTATIONS ARE IN A PUBLIC, OPEN SPACE, ANY SITE DEEMED INAPPROPRIATE FOR PUBLIC VIEWING BY THE STAFF WILL BE SHUT DOWN. DISRUPTIVE BEHAVIOR OF PATRONS OR INAPPROPRIATE VIEWING WILL TERMINATE THE PATRON’S INTERNET SESSION AND LOSS OF PRIVILEGE TO USE THE COMPUTER WORKSTATION.
PRINTING CHARGES ARE 25 CENTS PER PAGE. BE AWARE OF HOW MANY PAGES YOU ARE GOING TO PRINT BEFORE YOU SELECT ‘PRINT’.
Staff Assitance
Staff will assist library patrons in getting started on the Internet. However, the Library cannot guarantee that Internet-trained staff will be available to assist users at all times the library is open. Staff is not able to offer extensive explanations about the Internet or personal computer use or provide in-depth training. Time permitting, staff will try to answer specific questions about the internet and offer suggestions for effective searching.
Availability
- There are currently two iPads available for checkout by Garwood Public Library card holders.
Who can check out iPads?
- The borrower must have a current Garwood Public Library card with no outstanding fines.
- The borrower must be 18 years of age or older.
- The borrower must have read and agreed to the iPad Lending Policy in its entirety.
- Only one iPad per person can be checked out from the library at a time.
- Under no circumstances will a user be allowed to check out an iPad for another person.
How long can I keep an iPad?:
- iPads can be borrowed for 14 days (2 weeks). With one week renewal.
- One renewal is allowed for one week. If the iPad is on hold by another patron the item can’t be renewed.
- iPads must be returned in person to the circulation desk from where they originated. Do not return them using the book drop boxes.
- The borrower is responsible for any loss or damage to the device while in his/her possession.
What are the fines and fees for overdue, lost or damaged iPads?
- Fines will apply to overdue iPads.
- Items not returned will be considered lost, and a bill for replacement of iPad ($350.00) and/or
- USBC power adapter and lightning cable ($40.00) will be issued.
- Repair cost for a damaged iPad may be equivalent to replacement cost plus a processing fee, depending on severity.
- If the borrower modifies the iPad operating system (i.e. jailbreaks the iPad) it voids the warranty and he/she will be charged the replacement cost of the iPad.
- A patron will need to complete an “iPad Borrowing Agreement” acknowledging financial responsibility for lost or damaged equipment.
Regulations of Use
- The iPad must be returned in the same condition as when it was borrowed.
- Users may not add or remove apps, download any programs, or change the configuration of the iPad in any way.
- Borrowers are required to report any problems experienced with the iPad during their borrowing period. The working condition of the iPad will be assessed before checkout and upon its return.
- A patron will need to complete an “iPad Borrowing Agreement” acknowledging financial responsibility for lost or damaged equipment.
- The Garwood Public Library reserves the right to refuse service to anyone who abuses the equipment or is repeatedly late in returning the iPad.
The Library’s laptops may only be used in the Library. Removal of a Library laptop from the Library will be considered theft. All applicable laws will apply.
Eligibility
- Only Adult Garwood Library cardholders may borrow a tablet or laptop.
- The borrower must present either: A) a valid driver’s license; or B) another form of valid photo I.D. The I.D. will be held, with the borrower’s library card, at the Circulation Desk until the tablet or laptop is checked back in by Library staff.
Loan Period and Availability
- Laptops can be checked out from the Circulation Desk for 2 hours.
- Laptop lending will end one hour before the Library closes. Laptop must be returned 30 minutes before closing.
- Laptops are available on a first-come, first-served basis and cannot be reserved.
- A cardholder may borrow only one laptop per day.
Late Fees and Liability
The borrower is financially liable for any lost, stolen or damaged laptop. Fines and fees for laptops will be processed the same as fines or fees for other library materials.
| Description | Fines/Fees |
| For each hour or fraction thereof that the laptop is overdue. No grace period. No maximum fine. | $10.00 |
| Lost or damaged power cord. | Replacement cost + $20 processing fee. |
| Damaged laptop. | Repair cost (up to replacement cost) + $20 processing fee. |
| Lost or stolen laptop. (If laptop was stolen, the borrower is responsible for submitting a police report to the Library Director.) | Replacement cost + $20 processing fee |
Limitations on Laptop Use
- The borrower must not leave the laptop unattended. If a borrower must leave for a short time, laptop may be left with a staff member at the Circulation Desk with the understanding that the laptop’s check-in time will not be changed. If an unattended laptop is retrieved by a staff member the borrower’s laptop borrowing privileges will be suspended.
- A borrower’s files will be automatically erased from the laptop when it is shut down. Therefore, borrowers wanting to preserve their files should save them on a USB flash drive or e-mail the files to themselves.
- Library staff may not be available to provide technical support.
- The Library assumes no responsibility for any damage to Library users’ personal devices, software, files, and/or equipment. Tampering with Library equipment or attempting to access or modify the operating system or any other software or programming, including bypassing security functions, is prohibited.
- No filtering (blocking software) is used on these computers.
- The laptops may not be used to engage in illegal activities or to disturb other patrons. If asked to refrain, you must comply immediately. Failure to comply may result in loss of computer privileges.
Library behavior policies have been adopted by the Board of Trustees to assist library staff in maintaining the peace, comfort, and security and of the library, library users and library staff.
These rules were put into effect to address the problem of frequent patron complaints about the excessive noise level in the library.
- Loud, excessive and boisterous behavior is not permitted within the building. This includes, but is not limited to, running; fighting; quarreling; swearing; shouting; rude or inappropriate remarks; and excessive displays of anger.
- Parents and caregivers waiting for older siblings of youngsters dismissed from school earlier are requested to observe the rules of the Library by supervising their own children and refraining from loud conversations that might disrupt others working quietly. Conversations should not be able to be heard at the Circulation Desk.
- All children in second grade or under must be accompanied by an adult (18 or over), while in the library, at all times. If unaccompanied by an adult, children of this age may not remain in the building longer than it takes to locate and to check out a few items. A parent/guardian is responsible to supervise their child’s activity at all times.
- Although the Garwood Public Library is a reasonably safe environment, it should be remembered that it is a public space and anyone can come and go at will. The staff of the Garwood Public Library does not have the responsibility to monitor children’s whereabouts, whether the child stays in the Library or wanders out the door. Unsupervised children of any age are at risk.
- All parents, teachers, guardians, babysitters and other adults will be held responsible for the actions of the children in their charge while in the library.
- Because of the small space of the library, cell phone/electronic game use is prohibited in the Library. Please set cell phones to vibrate and take all phone calls outside. To protect the privacy of the library’s customers, the use of electronic personal devices by children is not permitted.
- Due to the limited amount of computers for public use, there is a 30-minute time limit on each station. Persons using the computers are required to sign in and out. Whether an adult or child, time is limited to 30 minutes unless specific permission is granted by a Garwood Library staff member upon request for research or homework use.
- The use of the Library’s office phone is not allowed unless it is an absolute emergency. Arrangements should be made to have children call home or parents’ place of work before they leave the school.
- No consumption of food is permitted in any area of the library (unless at a library sanctioned event); however, non-alcoholic drinks are permitted as long as they are in closeable containers.
- Entrance to the school through the Library is prohibited by order of the School Superintendent. Adults are not permitted to “cut through” the Library to get to the school, nor are children allowed to go back into the school for forgotten items. The doors to the school are locked for your protection and that of your child. Anyone entering the school must enter through the Second Avenue entrance and be buzzed in by the school staff.
- The library grounds, parapet wall, and parking lot should not be used as a playground. The library grounds and parking lot should not be used for bicycling, skateboarding, congregating and so forth, when in the library is in use. The library assumes no liability for individuals using the parking lot during hours in which the library is open or closed.
- All Library users must conform to acceptable standards of hygiene and cleanliness in order to prevent the disturbance of other library users and their use of the facility. Customers exhibiting unsanitary hygiene may be asked to leave the premises.
- Any misconduct that disturbs library users or staff, or that hinders others from using the library or library materials is prohibited.
- Individuals who require continual staff intervention or who demand continual staff attention with constant requests may have their privileges reduced or curtailed if this behavior interferes with the library staff’s ability to perform their duties in the best interests of all library users.
- All individuals are required to wear shirts and shoes at all times when inside the library.
- No animals, except lead dogs for the visually or hearing impaired, will be allowed within the library unless being physically held in the arms of the visitor.
- The library is a tobacco-free facility. The use of any tobacco product anywhere within the facility, or in an area where second-hand smoke can enter the building, is prohibited.
- Library users may not harass or bother other library users or library employees on library property. The library enforces a comprehensive harassment policy, which also covers sexual harassment.
- No campaigning; petitioning; interviewing; survey-taking; soliciting or sales; or any other speech or conduct, which results in the disruption of library activities, will be allowed within the library or on the library grounds. This does not refer to library-sponsored activities.
Violation of Policies Violation of the policies and regulations that govern the use of Library’s computers may result in suspension or loss of the privilege to use these resources and further disciplinary action based on the severity and frequency of violations. Illegal activity involving the Library’s resources will be subject to prosectuion by the appropriate authorities.
- Museum passes are lent out for three days at a time.
- Museum passes are lent out on a first come, first serve basis.
- There is a $10.00 fine for every day the pass is overdue.
- Passes cannot be reserved for specific dates ahead of time.
- Passes may be put on hold for one day but must be picked up the same day.
- Passes must be returned to the Circulation Desk- NOT in the book drop.
- In the event a pass is lost, the borrower will be charged a $25.00 replacement fee. (note: some Museums charge more for replacement fees)
- One museum pass is allowed per household at one time.
- Museum passes can only be checked out by Garwood Residents in good standings.
The Garwood Public Library Museum Pass Program is brought to you by a Grant from the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders.
The Garwood Public Library provides notary public service to members of the general public. The following guidelines will be followed with respect to the provision of service by library staff:
- A Library notary is usually available from 9:00 am to 4:30 pm
- It is recommended that patrons seeking notary service call the library prior to their visit in order to ensure that a notary will be available at the desired time.
- Notary service is provided on a first come, first served basis.
- Valid photo identification is required of any patron seeking notary service.
- The library will not provide witnesses, and witnesses may not be solicited from amongst patrons using the library. In order to serve as a witness, the witness must personally know the person whose document is being notarized and must be in possession of valid photo identification.
- Documents in any language other than English will not be notarized by the library’s notaries public.
- New Jersey law requires that a notary and the customer seeking notarization be able to communicate directly with each other. Library notaries are not permitted to make use of a translator in order to communicate with a notary service customer.
- Notary service is not available for deeds, wills, living wills, living trusts, codicils, depositions, mortgages or real estate closing documents.
- Certain public documents cannot be copied and notarized. Examples are passports, birth certificates, death certificates and marriage certificates.
- In accordance with New Jersey notarial law, the library’s notaries will not provide service if the customer, document or circumstances of the request for notary service raise any issue of authenticity, ambiguity, doubt or uncertainty for the library. In this event, the notary may, at his or her sole discretion, decline to provide notary service.
The library offers social software tools for educational, cultural, and recreational purposes. Library social software tools provide a limited public forum to facilitate the sharing of ideas, opinions, and information about library-related subjects and issues. Library social software is intended to create a welcoming and inviting online space where library users will find useful information and can interact with library staff and other library users.
- Social software is defined as any web application, site or account offered by the library that facilitates the sharing of opinions and information aboutlibrary related subjects and issues. Social software includes such formats as blogs, websites, and social network pages. A current example of social media used by the library is Facebook.
- While the library encourages an open forum, posts and comments are moderated by library staff. The library reserves the right, within its sole discretion, not to post and to remove submissions or comments that are unlawful or violate this policy.
Rules for Commenting and Posting:
- Posting offensive, obscene, threatening or abusive content is strictly prohibited. The library will remove comments that contain abusive, vulgar, offensive, threatening or harassing language, personal attacks of any kind, or offensive terms that target specific individuals or groups. Individuals are fully responsible for libelous or defamatory comments.
- Hate-speech will not be tolerated. Posts containing racism, homophobia, sexism, or any other form of hate-speech will be removed from the library’s site.
- Don’t include personal information. The library strongly encourages individuals, especially people under the age of 18, from posting personal information about themselves (e.g., last name, school, age, phone numbers, or addresses), and reserves the right to remove any posts with personal information about other people or any posts that violate a third party’s right to privacy.
- Stay on topic. Comments and posts should be related to the issue or topic discussed.
- Duplicate posts from the same individual are discouraged.
- Spam and commercial content will be removed. The library will remove posts or comments used for political and commercial purposes or for soliciting funds. Gratuitous links to sites are viewed as spam and will result in the comment being removed
- The Library is not responsible for any of thepatron–generated comments/content that appears on any of its social media. A posted comment is the opinion of the poster only, and publication of a comment does not imply endorsement or agreement by the Garwood Public Library.
- Users may report concerns. Moderators will endeavor to review those concerns as soon as possible. In some instances, we will not have the resources to review user comments and posts, but we do reserve the right to edit or delete user comments and posts in a manner consistent with our mission and policies. The Library will not remove all posts that have been reported and the Library cannot respond individually to every report.
