Belgrade advisory board approves makerspace waiver and Library of Things policy

The Belgrade Library Advisory Board on May 27 approved a liability waiver for the library makerspace and a Library of Things lending policy that will allow residents to borrow items such as guitars, podcast equipment and a karaoke machine.

Board members voted to accept a makerspace liability waiver presented by library staff, which covers participant assumption of risk, equipment and project liability and a separate minors section. A committee member moved to approve the waiver “as presented,” another member seconded and the board recorded verbal ‘aye’ votes before the Chair declared the motion passed.

The board also reviewed and approved a draft Library of Things policy that will limit patrons to two items checked out at a time, include an in-house two-hour checkout for most guitars and 14-day checkouts for other items, and impose a late fee of $1 per day up to a $10 maximum. Staff said high-value items (podcast equipment, projector, karaoke machine, snare drum and amplifiers) will require the patron to be 18 or older and that staff will check a driver’s license at checkout. The draft sets a maximum replacement charge of $500 to avoid penalizing patrons for minor damage.

Director (library staff) explained the policy details and said cataloging and tagging of items is already complete and the library expects to begin lending items in June. A committee member asked that the $1-per-day late fee be added to the written policy; staff confirmed they would add that figure to the draft and proceed to finalize the policy without returning it to the board for minor edits.

Votes at a glance:
- Approval of March 24 minutes — motion made and approved by verbal vote.
- Approval of makerspace liability waiver — motion passed (mover: Committee member; second: Director).
- Approval of Library of Things policy (with staff edits to add late-fee detail) — motion passed (mover: Committee member; second: Committee member 2).

The approvals allow the library to expand hands-on programming and to launch its lending collection, with age and equipment safeguards staff said are intended to balance access and risk. Staff said items will be posted on the library’s website as they are added and that some in-house items (like guitars) will be paired with a study room for use to control noise and safety.

The board set no additional conditions on either approval; staff will implement the policy and waiver as described and publish details for patrons online.