Re: access to the rules

Gentlepeople, I wish to revisit my own posting about the Charter, By-laws,
Rules & Regulations of Scouting. I have had several private postings from
Scout Executives and highly placed volunteers on the matter of the
availablility of the above books. The postings (if I may paraphrase them)
fall into two catagories: direct statements by professionals that these
documents should be and are available in their councils (for which I salute
those nameless professionals) and statements related to me by others
(attorneys call this hearsay) to the effect that a professional wanted to
restrict access as an attempt to control their council's volunteers.

I very strongly believe that the books I referred to earlier: Charter and
Bylaws of the BSA; Rules and Regulations of the BSA; Standard Local Council
Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws; National BSA Advancement Policies and
Procedures; Insignia Guide; and Guide to Safe Scouting, are basic rule books
that every Scouter should have access to and that every Scouter who deals on
the District or Council level must have.

I know that councils used to sell these books off the shelf. I was told in a
recent posting that they were moved to the "bin" list, because they were
frequently updated and could not be properly stocked, as well as the fact
that they had limited interest to anyone other than a professional. This is
plausible, and was what I thought originally, however, I have also been told
that there are professionals who do seek to limit access. And I have been
told that Scout Executives have to sign off on requests, etc.

I guess what I am saying here is that there is apparently an unevenly
followed open door policy here with respect to these documents. I believe
all should be able to see them, and there are SE's who agree with me.
Apparently this is not the case in every council however.

What to do about it?

Yours in Scouting,

G. John Marmet

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