Yep. Another one. And I’ll keep rolling through them as well. So given the controversy at the Conway Public Library (no, not the Conway School District SAU9) with (what I think) was an illegal shutting of a public facility because of a sexuality event that also served as discrimination against normal library patrons at the behest of Library Director David Smolen, I figured that I was going to see how deep this goes. So naturally, yet another RTK – a citizens best tool to get information from our (in their eyes) “betters”.
July 10, 2023
Right to Know demand per RSA 91-A: Conway Public Library Card Catalog
[Art.] 8. [Accountability of Magistrates and Officers; Public’s Right to Know.] All power residing originally in, and being derived from, the people, all the magistrates and officers of government are their substitutes and agents, and at all times accountable to them. Government, therefore, should be open, accessible, accountable and responsive…The public also has a right to an orderly, lawful, and accountable government…
Pursuant to the Right to Know Law (RSA. 91-A:4 (I) ), I am demanding access, within 5 business days, to the below enumerated governmental records:
The card catalog used in the Conway NH Libraries for any and all media. The information for this Responsive Record shall include:
- Name of the book
- Name of the Author(s)
- Content Summary
- ISBN identification (or other such designated ID)
- Name of the Library
Otherwise, if this cannot be fulfilled within that 5 business day mandated window per RSA 91-A:2, II, please advise when the Responsive Record will be made available.
Per RSA 91-A:4 IV(c) If you deny any portion of this request, please cite the specific exemption used to justify the denial to make each record, or part thereof, unavailable for inspection along with a brief explanation of how the exemption applies to the information withheld.
As you are aware, in 2016, the New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled that a governmental body in possession of records is required to produce them in electronic media using standard common file formats: Green v. SAU #55, 168 N.H. 796, 801 (2016). Unless there is some reason that it is not reasonably practical to produce such, explain why it is not practical to comply. I am asking that the Responsive Records be returned in a spreadsheet file (e.g., EXCEL, OpenOffice) which your library system can produce.
Please also note, per RSA 91-A:4 III, III-a, and III-b, you are required to maintain the safety and accessibility of such Responsive Records. This also includes such responsive records (e.g., emails, query files) which may have been deleted from respective local hardcopy or software system but are still available on the applicable servers or in application or archival system(s) either in-house or hosted.
Please let me know when these records will be sent to me for inspection. You may email the Responsive Records to me at Skip@GraniteGrok.com. If the volume turns out to be substantial, I have already set up a Dropbox folder to use in uploading those Responsive Records.
Thank you for your lawful attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Skip Murphy
Skip@GraniteGrok.com
After all, if they are willing to host childrens’ reading by men making sport of women, what other degeneracy can be found in the Library
Now, I did send the above to the Library Trustees. I did get an answer back from Smolens not much different than other Library Directors:
—— Original Message ——
From “David Smolen” <dsmolen@conwaypubliclibrary.org>
To Skip@granitegrok.com
Date 7/11/2023 10:55:01 AM
Subject response to your RTKL requestHi, Mr. Murphy, the library catalog is available to be used and viewed at the following address:
https://conway.aspendiscovery.org/
I think this answers your request.
Sincerely,
David Smolen
So, dear readers, do YOU think that satisfied my RTK – “look it up yourself”?
Of course you didn’t – you know me too well. What they all seem to do is send me to a page at which a book search can be done – not giving me what is requested which is the card catalog itself. It should be obvious – I didn’t ask to “search”‘s anything. Since their job is to manage BOOKS TO BE READ, that their primary job, one would surmise they’d know the difference. SEARCH is not a card catalog. Do I really need to start DEFINING what a card catalog is to that level? I find it hard to believe that “card catalog” doesn’t have a definition that these people would recognize.
So I sent back a message that he didn’t like, but that’s in the next post in this series.
