Social Media Policy
Goals
The goals of the library’s social network sites are to inform the public about library resources and activities, to increase the public’s use of those resources and to provide additional communication with members of the public.
Privacy/Parental Control
The library does not collect, maintain or otherwise use the personal information stored on any third-party site in any way other than to communicate library-related information to users on that site. Users may remove themselves at any time from the library’s social media site(s). Users should be aware that third party websites have their own privacy policies and should proceed accordingly. Users are encouraged to protect their privacy and avoid posting personally identifying information.
As with more traditional resources and the Internet, the library does not act in place of, nor in the absence of, a parent/guardian and is not responsible for enforcing any restrictions which a parent/ guardian may place upon a minor’s use of social software, defined as any web application, site or account that facilitates the sharing of opinions and information about library related subjects and issues.
Liability
The Fitzwilliam Town Library assumes no liability regarding any event or interaction that occurs between participants in any library-sponsored social media, and does not endorse content outside of pages maintained by the library and posts created by library staff in the course of their employment duties.
Monitoring/Inappropriate Content Removal
The library’s social media forums are limited public forums. The library requires that users stay on topic and abide by the law. The library reserves the right to modify or remove any messages or postings on its own page which it deems to be:
1) harassment, obscene, defamatory and/or threatening to any individual or group, or
2) that are purely commercial or represent organized political activity, or
3) that are in violation of copyright, trademark rights or other intellectual right of any third party.
Guidelines for Library Trustees and Staff
Staff members who maintain personal social networking sites must clearly delineate between material on their personal site and work-related postings. Any comments about work-related issues must bear a disclaimer that they do not represent the organization.
Library Trustees and Staff are free to express themselves as private citizens on social media sites to the degree that their speech does not impair or impede the performance of duties, impair discipline and harmony among coworkers, or negatively affect the public perception of the library.
Revised and approved by the Trustees May 1, 2017
Reviewed and approved by the Trustees August 9, 2021
Reviewed and approved by the Trustees June 6, 2022