Hello Eric: There is no longer a legal requirement in Michigan for municipal entities to engage in bidding. However, it is considered a good practice, especially for large purchases, and some municipalities have local requirements. There is no magic number of required bids. You may wish to check your municipality(ies) and see if they have any bid requirements and use their requirements as your guide. Many bid processes go by date, and whatever bids are submitted by the end of the RFP process are the ones considered. The MML has an informative chapter that includes the bidding process. CH 20 Purchasing.pdf (mml.org)<http://www.mml.org/pdf/resources/publications/ebooks/HMO_by_chapter/CH%2020%20Purchasing.pdf> Whatever your library decides, you will want to be sure all parameters are clearly listed in your bidding policy and procedures. As always, if you have any questions about appropriate procedure, contact your library's lawyer for advice. I hope this is helpful! Clare Clare D. Membiela, MLS, J.D. Library Law Consultant Library of Michigan MembielaC@michigan.gov<mailto:MembielaC@michigan.gov> 517-335-8132 The research and resources above are for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. You should contact your attorney to obtain advice with respect to any particular issue or problem. "The dissemination of ideas can accomplish nothing if otherwise willing addressees are not free to receive and consider them. It would be a barren marketplace of ideas that had only sellers and no buyers." Lamont v. Postmaster General, 381 U.S. 301 From: Michlib-l <michlib-l-bounces@mcls.org> On Behalf Of Eric Hansen via Michlib-l Sent: Tuesday, January 24, 2023 8:44 AM To: michlib-l@mcls.org; public-directors-smlc@googlegroups.com Subject: [Michlib-l] # of Bids Required for District Library CAUTION: This is an External email. Please send suspicious emails to abuse@michigan.gov<mailto:abuse@michigan.gov> Hello, I have a question and I've had some trouble finding a good answer. I hope one of you can give me some guidance. My Board wants to know if we are legally required to solicit a minimum number of bids for construction work. My approach when looking for a new vendor of any kind has been to contact a large number--- it's not very difficult to transmit the same text to at least 5-10 different providers and compare their replies. But, my Board wants to know if there is a legal minimum for a district library. Thank you for any insight, and have a great week. Eric Hansen Director Vicksburg District Library<https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vicksburglibrary.org%2F&data=05%7C01%7CMembielaC%40michigan.gov%7C75a3e0ef7c4b453f8ca808dafe11a62e%7Cd5fb7087377742ad966a892ef47225d1%7C0%7C0%7C638101649588475480%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=IjRyxt%2Fpn%2Bjel2nY%2BDa0yLkRr87sw8R945ExElvCPhA%3D&reserved=0> EHansen@VicksburgLibrary.org<mailto:EHansen@VicksburgLibrary.org> 269-649-1648