On May 12, 2009, Governor David Paterson signed Chapter 26 of the Laws of 2009 (A3169/S2754) An Act to Amend the Public Officers Law in Relation to Requiring Posting of Notice of Meetings on the Internet. The Committee on Open Government of the New York State Department of State has indicated that this new statute applies to all entities that are subject to Open Meetings Law. This includes all types of libraries.

The legislation amended Article 7 of the Public Officers Law related to Open Meetings, by adding a new subdivision 5 to Section 104 which is about public notice. Subdivision 5 requires that in addition to one or more public sites previously designated, that notice of the time and place of any upcoming meeting of the library board must be posted conspicuously at least 72 hours in advance on the library’s website.

– The text of Article 7, Public Officers Law, Section 104 (5) can be found at: http://www.dos.state.ny.us/coog/openmeetlaw.html
– The text of Chapter 26 of the Laws of 2009 (A3169/S2754) can be found at: http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?bn=A03169