Freedom of Information Act Policy

Article I: Public Body.

A brief description of the Cook Memorial Public Library District (CMPLD) public body is as follows:

1. The purpose of the CMPLD is to provide materials and services for the recreational, social, informational, and educational needs of the community.
2. The CMPLD operating budget is available on the library website. Funding sources are property and personal property replacement taxes, state and federal grants, fines, fees, and donations. Tax levies are:
   1. Corporate purposes (for general operating expenditures including debt service)
   2. IMRF (for employees’ retirement and related expenses)
   3. Social Security (for employees’ FICA costs and related expenses)
3. The administrative office is located at this address: 413 N. Milwaukee Avenue, Libertyville, IL 60048. The Library also has a branch located at 701 Aspen Drive, Vernon Hills, IL 60061.
4. The CMPLD Board of Trustees exercises control over the library’s policies and procedures. The board meets on the third Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. unless rescheduled and notice given in accordance with the Illinois Open Meetings Act. All regular meetings will be held at the Cook Park Library, 413 N. Milwaukee Avenue, Libertyville, Illinois or the Aspen Drive Library, 701 Aspen Drive, Vernon Hills, Illinois as listed on the annual Ordinance setting forth a schedule of regular meetings adopted each June. Board meeting minutes and library policies can be found on the library website.
5. The library is required to report and be answerable for our operations to: Illinois State Library, Springfield, Illinois. Its members are: State Librarian and Secretary Of State, Jesse White; Director of State Library, Anne Craig; and various other staff.

Article II: Freedom of Information Act Requests.

Information and records available to the public may be requested in the following manner:

1. Submit a request via email, by written letter or fax to the following individual:
   FOIA Officer
   Cook Memorial Public Library District
   413 N. Milwaukee Ave.
   Libertyville, IL 60048
   foiarequest@cooklib.org
   Fax: 847-362-2354
2. If the request is for a “commercial purpose” that must be indicated on the request.
3. It must be specified whether the request is for inspection of public records, copies of public records, or both.
4. To reimburse actual costs for reproducing the records, the following fees will be charged.
   1. There is no charge for the first fifty (50) pages of black and white text either letter or legal size.
   2. There is a $.15 per page charge for copied records in excess of fifty (50) pages.
   3. Actual copying cost of color copies and other sized copies will be charged.
   4. Commercial Requests: The Library will charge $10.00 per hour for each hour in excess of 8 hours spent searching for or retrieving records or for examining the record for necessary redactions and will also charge the actual costs of retrieving records stored off-site by a third party storage company, if any.
   5. Voluminous Requests: For electronic records, if the records are not in a portable document format (pdf), the Library will impose the following charges:
      Amount of data Fee
      For up to 2 megabytes of data $20
      For more than 2 and less than 4 megabytes of data $40
      For more than 4 megabytes of data $100For voluminous requests for electronic records, if the records are in a portable Document format (pdf), the Library will impose the following charges:
      Amount of data Fee
      For up to 80 megabytes of data $20
      For more than 80 and less than 160 megabytes of data $40
      For more than 160 megabytes of data $100
      For fees imposed pursuant to this section regarding voluminous requests, the Library will provide the requester with an accounting of all fees, costs and personnel hours in connection with the request. The fees the Library may charge for voluminous requests can still be charged even if the requester fails to accept or collect the records. If a requester does not pay a fee charged pursuant to Section 6 of FOIA, the debt shall be considered a debt due and owing to the Library and may be collected in accordance with applicable law.
5. If the records are kept in electronic format, a specific format may be requested and if feasible, will be so provided. If not, records will be provided either in the electronic format in which they are kept (which will require payment by the requestor of the actual cost of the medium only, i.e. flash drive, tape, etc.) or in paper form as you select.
6. Except for commercial requests, voluminous requests and recurrent requesters, the office will respond to a written request within five (5) working days or sooner if possible. An extension of an additional five (5) working days may be necessary to properly respond.
7. Records may be inspected or copied. If inspected, an employee must be present throughout the inspection.
8. The place and times where records are available for inspection are as follows:
   Monday – Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
   Cook Park Library – Administrative Office
   413 N. Milwaukee Ave.
   Libertyville, IL 60048
9. The Library is not required to create records that do not exist or required to answer questions in response to a FOIA request (5 ILCS 140/1)
   When a record contains material with release restrictions and material that is not subject to release restrictions, the restricted material shall be redacted and the unrestricted material released (5 ILCS 140/7).
   1. A copy of the redacted release should be maintained for proof of what was actually released and in order to document the reasons for the redactions.
10. The denial of a request for records is subject to the following:
    1. Denial of a request by the FOIA Officer shall be in writing and shall identify the specific exemptions being claimed under 5 ILCS 140/9. Failure to respond in a timely manner to a request under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act constitutes a denial (5 ILCS 140/3(d). Because the Library bears the burden of proof in a denial, the FOIA Officer shall consult with the Library Director prior to issuing a denial.
    2. A detailed factual basis for any claimed exemption, and the names and titles of each person responsible for the denial, will be provided (5 ILCS 140/9). Each written denial shall also inform the requesting party of the right to appeal to the Public Access Counselor of the Illinois Attorney General (5 ILCS 140/9(a)).

Article III: Types of Records.

Certain types of information maintained by CMPLD are exempt from inspection and copying. The following types or categories of records are maintained by the Library and will be made available upon request:

1. Monthly financial statements.
2. Annual Receipts and Disbursements Reports.
3. Operating Budgets.
4. Annual Audits.
5. Minutes of Library Trustee Board and committee meetings.
6. Library policies, including Collection Development.
7. Adopted ordinances and resolutions of the Board.
8. Annual reports to the Illinois State Library.

Adopted: 02/17/04

Revised: 11/02/06

Revised: 03/27/07

Revised: 12/15/09

Revised: 04/19/16

Revised: 02/16/21