State Aid to Public Libraries is distributed according to a formula. The formula allocates 50 percent of the total State Aid to Public Libraries appropriation as equal block grants to each eligible county, plus an additional block grant to each multi-county regional library. For example, Cumberland County Public Library and Information Center receives one block grant as a single-county library system. Pettigrew Regional Library receives five block grants: one for each of the four counties comprising the system, plus one for the region itself. Municipal libraries qualifying for State Aid do not receive block grants.
The remaining 50 percent of the State Aid fund is allocated as per capita income equalization grants. Each eligible regional, county and municipal library system receives a per capita grant that is inversely proportional to the local per capita income. In the most affluent system the local per capita income is approximately twice that of the least affluent. The per capita equalization grant, therefore, results in the poorest system receiving about twice as much per capita as the richest.
The State Aid legislation stipulates that the appropriation is intended to promote, aid, and equalize public library service in North Carolina. The formula does this with block grants by recognizing the county as the unit of local government that has proved most effective in guaranteeing and sustaining public library service to the largest number of people. Equal block grants also favor the least populous counties by recognizing that these smaller counties have a smaller base for support for public services. The weighted per capita grants reinforce the commitment to equalization by directing more aid to those least able to underwrite library service. These grants are available to any public library, including municipal libraries, that establishes its eligibility according to the Rules and Regulations for the Allocation of State Aid to Public Libraries.