> Are board meeting minutes for a 501(c) 3 required to
> be open to the general
> public or to the membership?

That would completely depend on state laws for the
state where the non-profit organization is located.

For the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, where I reside,
Title 22 of the Pennsylvania Code requires that all
state-funded public libraries must comply with the
Pennsylvania Sunshine Act and the Pennsylvania
Right-to-Know Law. Thus, this would mean, for
*state-funded public libraries*, that board meeting
minutes must be made available to the public, if there
is a public request.

I was Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the Andrew
Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall in Carnegie,
Pennsylvania for two years in the 1990s. I placed
approved board resolutions, as well as meeting minutes
for the Board's annual meeting, on the Library web
site for convenient public review [placing minutes on
a web site is NOT required in Pennsylvania].

Regrettably, some state-funded public libraries in
Pennsylvania do not comply with Title 22 of the
Pennsylvania Code, in this regard. And, enforcement is
lax.

Now, Pennsylvania law does not require museums to
comply with the Sunshine Act or Right-to-Know Law,
UNLESS, the museum is actually owned and operated by a
municipality, county, or state government agency.

In most cases, privately operated museums would not be
required to comply with open meetings or open records
laws. However, for a museum that receives a subsidy
from a governmental unit, the contract with that
governmental unit will likely require some type of
governmental oversight--and, this could include direct
public oversight.

For instance, for museums funded by the Allegheny
Regional Asset District in the Pittsburgh area, most
of these museums [depending on the size] are required
to have an annual audit. The audit must be submitted
with the annual application for subsidy. And, the
Regional Asset District has the right to inspect
financial books of the museum, as do state funding
agencies. *All information* submitted to the Regional
Asset District by a museum automatically becomes
public information, due to the Right-to-Know Law.

Regardless of state requirements, I would strongly
recommend that the board of trustees of any museum or
library make public access to meetings and official
records as convenient as possible. This would be
particularly true if your museum receives a subsidy
from the taxpayers.

It is in the best interests of such a non-profit
organization, which has a mission to serve the public,
to welcome any and all publc input and questions. Your
museum needs public support to survive--whether
through public subsidy or by general fund raising. You
want to be as open with the public as possible.

In fact, such openess could be a way to find new
supporters--both from a financial perspective as well
as for museum volunteers!

gaw

--- Katie Anderson <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
Date: Tue, 16 Aug 2005 11:52:05 -0400 
From: "Katie Anderson"
<[log in to unmask]>  Add to Address Book

Subject: [MUSEUM-L] board meeting minutes 
To: [log in to unmask]

> Are board meeting minutes for a 501(c) 3 required to
> be open to the general
> public or to the membership?
> 
>  
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Katie
> 
>  
> 
>
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> -----------
> 
> Katie Anderson
> 
> Museum Director
> 
> Rome Area History Museum
> 
> 305 Broad Street
> 
> Rome, GA 30161
> 
> 706-235-8051
> 
> cell 678-908-7751
> 
> fax 706-235-6631
> 
>  <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
> [log in to unmask]
> 
>  <http://www.romehistorymuseum.com/>
> www.RomeHistoryMuseum.com
> 
>  
> 
>
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> -----------
> 
> A new exhibit highlighting the efforts on the home
> front during WWII is now
> open at the Rome Area History Museum.  "World War
> II: The Home Front"
> contains photos and artifacts from the 1940s that
> tell the story of this
> transformational time.  A video containing clips of
> oral history interviews
> with local WWII veterans and civilians is on view in
> the exhibit.

gaw

Glenn A. Walsh
Electronic Mail - < [log in to unmask] > 
Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
* Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh: 
  < http://www.planetarium.cc > 
* Adler Planetarium, Chicago: 
  < http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com >
* Astronomer & Optician John A. Brashear: 
  < http://johnbrashear.tripod.com > 
* Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries: 
  < http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc > 
* Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh: 
  < http://www.incline.cc >


		
____________________________________________________
Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page 
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs 
 

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).