Fort Vancouver Regional Library District Public Records Policy The Fort Vancouver Regional Library District (FVRL) follows the requirements of R.C.W. Ch. 42.17 Public Records, commonly known as the Public Records Act. A public record, as defined in the R.C.W., includes any writing containing information relating to the conduct of government or the performance of any governmental or proprietary function prepared, owned, used, or retained by any state or local agency regardless of form or characteristics, except as there exempted. All requests either for inspection or for copies of public records must be in writing addressed to the Public Records Officer and may be delivered in person to the FVRL business office or any branch library, by mail, e-mail or fax. Individuals asking for public records information will receive a reply, either providing the requested information or informing the requester of the length of time needed to provide the requested information, within five (5) business office working days. All of the FVRL public records are available for inspection Monday through Friday by appointment only at the FVRL business office. There is no charge for inspection of or locating public documents. Initial requests for a single copy of documents approved by the Fort Vancouver Regional Library District Board of Trustees in a public meeting (e.g.. policies, resolutions, budgets, minutes, agendas) and information included in the FVRL General Information Binder will be provided without charge. Copies of the policies that the Fort Vancouver Regional Library District Board of Trustees have approved are available for inspection in FVRL branch libraries and the business office General Information Binder. They may be viewed at and/or printed from the FVRL web site, www.fvrl.org. R.C.W. 42.17.300 allows for a reasonable charge to be imposed for producing copies of public records including the actual costs directly incident to such copying, such as a staff member's time to copy, time to mail and the postage cost. All copies of public records with the exceptions noted above, will incur a charge of 10¢ per copy plus the cost of a staff members' time to produce the copy and the time to mail (if the time exceeds five minutes), and the postage cost. Payment must be received prior to producing and/or mailing the information. Any library record used to maintain control of library materials, or to provide access to information, that discloses or could be used to disclose the identity of a library user or to identify specific library users with specific library materials or information requests, is exempted from public disclosure to protect user privacy by R.C.W. 42.17. Certain other exemptions, including personnel matters, items relating to land acquisition and labor negotiations, and donor identification are defined in R.C.W. 42.17. If any item is withheld, the specific exemption that authorizes such withholding will be cited and an explanation will be provided by the Public Records Officer. This policy will be implemented by the Public Records Officer, as delegated by the Library Executive Director. The Public Records Officer is expected to make every effort to apply these rules in a fair, reasonable, humane, and positive manner. Any person requesting Public Records who questions the way this policy has been applied to him or her may use the appeal process established by the Appeal Rights for Policies. Approved: original policy 2/10/03