FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT POLICY

The Prairie Creek Public Library District shall comply in all respects with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act (5 ILCS 140).

The definitions set forth in Section 2 of the Freedom of Information Act are adopted herein. In addition to those rules set forth in the Freedom of Information Act, the following definitions shall also apply:

•“FOIA” means the Freedom of Information Act.

•“Freedom of Information Officer” means the individual(s) designated to receive

and respond to requests for public records. The Library Director is the

Freedom of Information Officer and will be responsible for responding to

requests and for completing the training required by FOIA.

•“Requestor” means a person who submits a request for public records in

accordance with these rules and regulations.

I. A brief description of our public body is as follows:

A. Our purpose is to provide materials and services for the recreational, social,

informational, historical, intellectual and educational needs of the community.

B. An organized chart is attached (Appendix A)

C. The total amount of the library’s operating budget for FY 2022-20232 is

$448,315.00.   The Funding sources are property and personal property

replacement taxes, state and federal grants, fines, charges, interest income

and donations.

Tax levies are as follows:

1. Corporate Purposes (for general operating expenditures).

2. IMRF (provides for employees retirement and related expenses)

3. Social Security (provides for employee’s FICA costs and related expenses).

4. Maintenance (for maintaining the building).

5. Tort Liability (for insurance premiums, risk management, attorney’s fees and

related expenses, unemployment and worker’s compensation insurance).

6. Audit (for annual audit and related expenses).

D. The Director’s office is located at this address:

501 Carriage House Lane

Dwight, IL 60420

E. The library employs the following number of persons:

1. Full-time: 2

2. Part-time: 6

F. The Prairie Creek Public Library District Board of Trustees exercises control

over library policies and meets on the second Tuesday of the month at

7:00 p.m. in the upstairs meeting room in the library. See Appendix B

for a directory of board members.

G. The library is required to report and be answerable for operations to Illinois

State Library, Springfield, Illinois.

Its members include: State Librarian, Jesse White (Secretary of State)

Director of State Library, Greg McCormick, and other various staff.

II. Requests for information and records available to the public should be made in the

following manner:

A. Use request form (Appendix C).

* A fax request may be sent to (815) 584-3120 (to the attn of the FOIA officer)

* An email request may be sent to: prairiecreekdirector@gmail.com

B. Requests should be directed to the following individual:

Sherrie Rhodes, FOIA Officer

C. Routine oral requests will be handled at the discretion of the FOIA officer.

Examples of the routine oral requests that will be handled includes requests

for: minutes of public meetings and copies of District ordinances.

D. Indicate whether the request is for a “commercial purpose”.

“Commercial Purpose” is defined in the Act as “the use of any

part of a public record or records, or information derived from public records,

in any form for sale, resale, or solicitation or advertisement for sales or services.”

However, there are exceptions for new media, non-profits, scientific and

academic organizations for distributing news, articles and opinions of public

interest, research, or education.

E. In the case of “commercial interest,” additional questions may be asked of the

requestor in order to determine the classification. The library has up to 21 days

to respond and either deny the request based on exemptions or undue burden,

estimate the time and cost of copying for prepayment, or provide the

documents requested.

After the first eight hours of searching and/or retrieval, there will be a

$10.00 per hour charge for the time spent by personnel. Commercial

requestors will be charged for the actual cost of retrieving and transporting

public records from an off-site storage facility if the library contracts with a

third-party company. If the fee is imposed the library will provide the

requester with a written accounting of all fees, costs and personnel hours

involved in responding to the commercial request. No fees can be charged

for electronic copies of documents under FOIA other than the actual cost of

the medium used to provide the documents, such as a CD-ROM or flash

drive.

F. Requestor must specify the records requested to be disclosed for inspection

or to be copied. If records are requested to be certified, the requestor must

specify which records.

G. In order to reimburse the library’s actual cost for reproducing the records,

the following fees will be charged:

* There is no charge for the first fifty (50) pages of black and white text

either letter or legal size.

* There is a $.15 per page charge for copied records in excess of 50 pages.

H. Records kept in electronic format may be requested in a specific format and if

feasible, will be so provided. If not, they will be provided either in the

electronic format they are kept (or in paper). Fees would be assessed for the

actual cost of the medium only, i.e. disc, flash drive, etc.

The office will respond to a written request within five (5) working days or

sooner. An extension of an additional five (5) working days may be

necessary to properly respond, with an appropriate notification to the

requestor.

J. Records may be inspected or copied. If inspected, an employee must be

present throughout the inspection.

K. The place and times where the records will be available are as follows:

Monday through Friday

10:00 am – 5:00 pm

Prairie Creek Public Library District, Administrative Office

501 Carriage House Lane

Dwight, IL 60420

L. A denial will be provided in writing and include a “detailed factual basis

for the application of any exemption claimed.” The denial will also

provide notice of the requestor’s right to seek review of the denial

by the PAC along with the PAC’s address and phone number. The

denial letter will also inform the requestor of his or her right to seek

judicial review under Section II of the Act. If the denial utilizes an

exemption under Section 7, the notice of denial will specify the

exemption claimed and the “specific reasons for the denial, including

a detailed factual basis and citation to supporting legal authority.”

Public Access Counselor

1-800-243-0618 or (217) 558-0486

Illinois Attorney General’s Office

500 South Second Street

Springfield, IL 62706

III. Certain types of information maintained by us are exempt from inspection and

copying. However, the following types or categories of records are maintained

under our control:

A. Monthly Financial Statement

B.Annual Receipts and Disbursements Reports

C.Budget and Appropriation Ordinances

D.Levy Ordinances

E.Operating Budgets

F.Annual Audits

G.Minutes of the Library Board of Trustees

H.Library Policies, including Materials Selection

I.Adopted Ordinances and Resolutions of the Board

J.Annual Reports to the Illinois State Library