Colman Herman v. Boston, City of - Public Library (SPR 20181639)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords November 21, 2018 SPRlS/1639 Robin Carver City of Boston - Public Library 700 Boylston Street Boston, MA 02116 Dear Ms. Carver: I have received the petition of Colman Herman appealing the response of the City of Boston - Public Library (Library) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 1O A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Herman requested the internally written preservation plan for its collections. The Library responded stating it was updating policies and procedures and therefore, they were not appropriate to share at this time. Mr. Herman appealed stating the Library's response indicated that something already exists and should be provided. The Public Records Law strongly favors disclosure by creating a presumption that all governmental records are public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA(d); 950 C.M.R. 32.03(4). "Public records" is broadly defined to include all documentary materials or data, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received by any officer or employee of any town of the Commonwealth, unless falling within a statutory exemption. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26). Subsequent to the intervention by a staff member of this Division, I learned that the Library is in the process of providing Mr. Herman a supplemental response to his request for records. This response must confirm whether it possesses additional responsive records. The duty to comply with requests for records extends to those records that exist and are in the possession, custody, or control of the custodian ofrecords at the time of the request. See G.L. c. 66, § lO(a)(ii). To the extent that additional records exist, they must be provided in a manner consistent with the Public Records Law. See G.L. c. 66, § lO(b). Conclusion Accordingly, the Library is ordered to provide Mr. Herman with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within ten (10) business days. A copy of any such response must be provided to this One Ashburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 • (617) 727-2832• Fax: (617) 727-5914 sec.state.ma.us/pre• pre@sec.state.ma.us

Ro bin Carver SPRlS/1639 Page 2 November 21, 2018 office. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of this response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma. us. Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Colman Herman