Meeting Rooms

The library’s meeting rooms are a community asset, and the Library Board wishes to encourage use by community groups when they are not in use for library functions. Therefore, the meeting rooms will be available for use by local community groups subject to the guidelines established below. The Library Board and staff do not assume any liability for groups or individuals attending a meeting in the library. The fact that a group is permitted to meet at the library does not in any way constitute an endorsement of the group's policies or beliefs by the library staff or board. Alcoholic beverages are prohibited. Adults must be present for children’s gatherings. Requests for use of meeting room shall not be permitted or denied based on religious, racial, social, political or economic status; or mental, emotional or physical condition; or age, gender, or sexual orientation. 

The library’s meeting rooms include:

• RCU Community Room (main level) - Reservable During Closed Hours, Not Reservable During Open Hours

• Study rooms (main level) - Reservable During Open Hours

With the exception of RCU Community Room, the library’s meeting rooms are only available for public use during the hours that the library is open and must end at least 15 minutes before the library closes.  

I. Uses of the Meeting Rooms

The meeting room may be used for free for programs sponsored by nonprofit, educational, and cultural agencies, governmental units, and community service agencies. Local commercial enterprises and private citizens will be able to rent certain meeting rooms. These uses are scheduled by a completed application, accompanied with payment covering the fees when applicable.

An organization or group may reserve a meeting room no more frequently than 20 times in a calendar year. The only exceptions will be for meetings of City of Rice Lake governmental units and library sponsored programming. Limits on the use of meeting rooms are established to provide as much access to the meeting facilities as possible to as broad a range of organizations and groups as possible.

Library staff reserve the right to enter meeting rooms at any time. 

In the event the library is unexpectedly closed, meetings scheduled during that time will be canceled. In the event of cancellation, the group’s leader is responsible for notifying group members. 

1. RCU Community Room (main level): The RCU Community Room is available for public use before and after the library’s regularly scheduled hours of operations. The commercial use fee for the RCU Community Room (larger room which holds up to 300 people) will be $50 per event.
   
   

2. Study Rooms (main and second level): The library has three study rooms on the main level. The library study rooms are available during the library’s regularly scheduled hours of operation. All groups must be out of the rooms fifteen (15) minutes prior to closing time.
   
   

II. Meeting Room Priorities

Regular meetings in sequence will be allowed only if they fall under priorities 1 or 2 listed below. Organizations that fall under other priority levels must book their next meeting the day they show up for their current meeting.

Priority 1: Any part of the library’s own program or programs in which the library is a sponsor, participant or cooperating agency. Such programs include storytimes, book discussion groups, library special events, and Friends of the Library meetings.

Priority 2: Educational programs sponsored by UW-Extension, educational institutions, and other organizations having outreach educational and informational programs that are granted Library Board approval.

Priority 3: Meetings of local government agencies.

Priority 4: Meetings of local nonprofit organizations, service agencies supported by community funds, and monthly meetings of various community organizations. These meetings must be open to the public.

Priority 5: Local commercial enterprises. These events must be informational in nature and not for the purpose of selling a product or service.

Priority 6: Private space rental for social gatherings. These events must understand that the current layout of the building includes workspaces that are only accessible through the meeting rooms. The library is not responsible for providing security or for managing the privacy of the function.

The meeting room may not be used for:

1.  Any purpose that, in the opinion of the Library Board, may interfere with the normal use of the library.

2. Fund-raising purposes, except for training and informational programs of community service agencies.

3. Programs whose purpose is the sale, advertising, or promotion of products or services.

4. A return engagement by a group that has abused the facility in the past.

5. Meetings of children or teens without an adult supervisor present.

6. Meetings in which attendance will exceed 300 people in the RCU Community Room.

7. The name or address of the Rice Lake Public Library may not be used as the official address or headquarters of any organization. 

Use of the RCU Community Room before or after library hours requires a completed meeting room agreement to be turned in to the library: