Sustainable Organization
Many North Carolina public libraries have served as pillars of their communities for decades. This long-term sustainability depends on a strong governing structure; a dedicated and well-trained staff reflective of their community; ongoing, community-based planning efforts; and written, transparent policies detailing library philosophy and methods of conducting business.
Outcome 1:
The library is legally established and operates in compliance with all local, state, and federal laws and regulations, ensuring public confidence in the effective stewardship of public funds.
| Number | Indicator |
|---|---|
| 1.1 | The library complies with all applicable State Library laws |
| 1.2 | The library complies with all other applicable North Carolina Laws |
| 1.3 | The library complies with all Federal Laws |
North Carolina's public library systems are governed by a variety of local structures, including Governing Boards, Advisory Boards, or City or County governments. The multiplicity of structures, therefore, do not align well with a series of Tiered indicators but are instead subject to state library laws and codes included below. These laws and codes ensure that libraries are responsive to their communities and are managed in a way that provides transparency and accountability to taxpayers.
The laws and codes, particularly those related to State Aid to Public Libraries, contain requirements including:
- Public library services shall be provided from at least one designated facility with a cataloged collection that is open to the public a minimum of 40 hours per week
- Employ a full-time library director (minimum 35 hours/week) having or eligible for North Carolina public librarian certification
- Secure operational funds from government sources at least equal to the average amount budgeted and available for expenditure the previous three years. . . . State funds shall not replace local funds budgeted and available for expenditure for public library operations.
Links to all applicable laws and codes are included below.
State Library Laws
North Carolina General Statutes (NCGS) and North Carolina Administrative Codes (NCAC) that govern public libraries:
- NCGS 125 State Library provides the legal basis for the relationship between the State of North Carolina and public libraries and led to the creation of the Library Development section at the State Library. This statute also establishes the Aid to Public Libraries Fund, librarian certification, and confidentiality of library user records
- 07 NCAC 02I .0200 – State Aid to Public Libraries provides qualifications for State Aid grant eligibility and approved uses
- NCGS 153A Article 14 Libraries provides the legal basis for the establishment of County and City public libraries including the authorization of public library systems, free library service, Board of trustees, qualifications of a library director, and financing library systems
- NCGS 160A Article 20 Part 1 Joint Exercise of Powers provides for the establishment of regional library systems and other library systems that have established interlocal agreements between two or more units of local government
- 07 NCAC 02I .0300 – Organization of Regional Libraries provides for establishment and dissolution of a regional library system including regional agreements and powers and duties of regional board as governing body
- NCGS 143B Article 2 Part 6 Public Librarian Certification Commission provides the legal basis for the Public Librarian Certification Commission including creation, powers and duties, members, and meetings
- 07 NCAC 02J .0100 – North Carolina Public Librarian Certification Commission establishes minimum standards and procedures for public librarian certification
Other Applicable North Carolina Laws
- NCGS 143-318.9-18 Article 33C Meetings of Public Bodies, also known as the Open Meeting Law, provides the legal basis for the right of the public to attend meetings of public bodies which include library board of trustee meetings both advisory and governing
- NCGS 132 Public Records defines public records and the public’s right to obtain copies of public records from agencies of North Carolina government and their subdivisions
- NCGS 121-5 Public records and archives designates the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources as the official archival agency and authority over public records including regulation of records destruction
- NCGS 132-8 Assistance by and to Department of Natural and Cultural Resources gives the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources the right to examine the condition of public records and provide assistance in preserving, filing, and making available public records
- NCGS 14-398 Theft or destruction of property of public libraries, museums, etc. classifies for the theft or destruction of property of public libraries as a Class I misdemeanor if the value does not exceed $50 and a Class H felon if the sum exceeds $50
- NCGS 159 Local Governance Finance, also known as the Local Government Finance Act, provides provisions for administration of finances for units of local government
Federal Laws
- Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) provides information and technical assistance on the Americans with Disabilities Act
- Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) establishes minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and youth employment standards affecting employees in the private sector and in Federal, State, and local governments
- Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) entitles eligible employees of covered employers to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons
Helpful Resources
- United for Libraries, American Library Association: The Association of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends, and Foundations offers a variety of resources, including informational/training videos.
- Working Together: Roles and Responsibilities Guidelines: The State Library of North Carolina offers a simple chart developed by the Connecticut State Library that explains the roles of the Library Director, Board, and Friends in different areas of library responsibility for Governing Boards and Advisory Boards.
- State Library of North Carolina Management Resources: The State Library offers a wide variety of resources for library directors and trustees, including links to training, manuals, and statistics.
- General Records Schedule for Local Government Agencies: Department of Natural and Cultural Resources Records Retention and Disposition schedule for local government agencies.
- Public Libraries Records Retention and Disposition Schedule: Department of Natural and Cultural Resources Records Retention and Disposition schedule for public libraries.
Top of Page
The library is an institution of education and empowerment for the community. To create this culture of learning, the library hires skillful, dedicated staff who are afforded the tools and supports, including fostering an environment of mutual respect and cooperation, to ensure ongoing learning and skill-building.
Outcome 2:
The library is sufficiently staffed with personnel who reflect the diversity of the community and participate in professional development to provide quality service to the community.
Essential
| Number | Indicator |
|---|---|
| 2.1 | Staffing meets a standard per 25,000 population of:
Paid staff are present during all business hours. |
| 2.2 | All state and federal laws in recruiting, hiring, and terminating employees are followed. |
| 2.3 | Written job descriptions are used to hire, develop goals, and conduct performance evaluations. |
| 2.4 | The library creates human resource policies or an Employee Handbook for employee orientations. Review for updates on a regular basis. |
| 2.5 | Orientation for new staff includes equity, diversity, and inclusion awareness training. |
| 2.6 | Paraprofessional/support staff participate annually in at least 5 hours of professional learning. |
| 2.7 | Professional staff participate annually in at least 20 hours of professional learning. |
| 2.8 | The library conducts a diversity audit of their staff to determine its fit with the community’s profile. |
Enhanced
| Number | Indicator |
|---|---|
| 2.9 | Staffing meets a standard per 25,000 population of:
|
| 2.10 | Inclusive hiring practices are utilized, including a diverse hiring committee. |
| 2.11 | The library develops a staffing plan that addresses job descriptions, competencies, organizational development, and succession planning. |
| 2.12 | The library ensures all employees are proficient in carrying out the library’s values and philosophy. |
| 2.13 | Paraprofessional/support staff participate annually in at least 10 hours of professional learning. |
| 2.14 | Professional staff participate annually in at least 30 hours of professional learning. |
| 2.15 | The library provides equity, diversity, and inclusion training to the staff every two years. |
| 2.16 | The library actively recruits and employs staff representative of their community demographics, with a focus on cultural and multilingual diversity. |
Exemplary
| Number | Indicator |
|---|---|
| 2.17 | Staffing meets a standard per 25,000 population of:
|
| 2.18 | The library actively recruits and considers diverse candidates for job positions, including bilingual candidates. |
| 2.19 | The library provides trained professional staff in areas such as adult services, youth services, IT, and/or Outreach. |
| 2.20 | The library provides in-house and continuing education activities for staff, trustees, and volunteers. |
| 2.21 | Paraprofessional/support staff participate annually in at least 20 hours of professional learning. |
| 2.22 | Professional staff participate annually in at least 40 hours of professional learning. |
| 2.23 | The library creates policies and strategies for strengthening and maintaining organizational diversity. |
Helpful Resources
- Library Competencies (American Library Association) Core competencies for professionally trained staff including Librarians Serving Children and Youth in Public Libraries, Reference and User Services Librarians, Developing Core Leadership Competencies, and Core Competencies of Librarianship.
- State Library of North Carolina Continuing Education The State Library offers a wide variety of continuing education opportunities, including links to archived webinars, upcoming online courses, and other web-based training resources.
- Project Ready: Reimagining Equity & Access for Diverse Youth Project Ready offers free, online professional development modules for librarians and other professionals interested in improving their knowledge about race and racism, racial equity, and culturally sustaining pedagogy.
- NC LIVE Training for librarians and library staff through NC LIVE, a statewide library cooperative supporting 200+ public and academic libraries across North Carolina.
- OCLC WebJunction Training Resources OCLC offers resources, including free training, to strengthen library staff members' knowledge, skill, and confidence.
Libraries earn the public trust by being accountable and transparent about the use of public money. North Carolina public libraries are primarily supported by local tax revenues. The library governing authority seeks and secures funding from public and private sources and monitors and expends these funds with integrity and to support the goals of the library. Donations, endowments, grants, and State Aid supplement but do not replace local funding.
Outcome 3:
The community is effectively served by a library that is appropriately funded and transparently administered to meet community needs.
Essential
| Number | Indicators |
|---|---|
| 3.1 | The library is in compliance with 07 NCAC 02I.0200 - State Aid to Public Libraries, which establishes qualifications for State Aid grant eligibility and approved uses, including requirements for local government funding, salaries, etc. (CODE). |
| 3.2 | The library follows fiscal procedures consistent with local, state, and federal government requirements. |
| 3.3 | The library prepares an annual budget based on the library's strategic planning goals and objectives. |
| 3.4 | The library director provides written financial reports for review and communicates regularly on financial matters. |
| 3.5 | The library develops a long-range capital plan for the library and updates it on an annual basis. |
| 3.6 | The library submits an annual application for State Aid and Public Library Survey to the State Library (CODE). |
| 3.7 | The library submits a full audit of the library's finances annually to the State Library (CODE). |
Enhanced
| Number | Indicators |
|---|---|
| 3.8 | The library fosters community financial investment in the library through Friends of the Library groups, foundations, philanthropists, donations, and gift program, etc. |
| 3.9 | The library applies for local, state, or national grants that are supplemental to local government funding. |
| 3.10 | The library sustains or increases supplemental funds from local, state, or national sources each year. |
Exemplary
| Number | Indicators |
|---|---|
| 3.11 | The library establishes and maintains an endowment to provide enhancements to basic services. |
| 3.12 | The library develops partnerships with other local government or nonprofit agencies with aligned missions and goals to apply for additional funding opportunities. |
| 3.13 | The library explores group purchases and collective bargaining opportunities in order to expend funds effectively and efficiently. |
Helpful Resources
- E-Rate Program The Federal Communication Commission's (FCC) E-Rate program provides discounted rates for telecommunications, internet access, and internal connections to eligible schools and libraries.
- State Library of North Carolina Grant Information The State Library administers two grant funds. Federally allocated funds from IMLS through LSTA and State allocated funds through the Aid to Public Libraries fund.
- ALA Programming Librarian Bi-Monthly Email Newsletter Link (featuring grant opportunities)
- Library Grants Blogspot For anyone interested in library grant opportunities
- Foundation Directory Online (through subscription) Online database of U.S. Foundations
In addition to managing the day-to-day concerns of the library community, libraries must continually assess both the changing needs of their stakeholders and the changing delivery mechanisms of library service. Technology, evolving expectations of libraries, and natural and community health disasters demand forward-thinking planning that builds upon community and library traditions.
Outcome 4:
The library develops and implements a dynamic planning process that reflects strategies based on community needs and priorities.
Essential
| Number | Indicators |
|---|---|
| 4.1 | The library develops a comprehensive strategic plan that identifies the library's strategies for achieving goals and objectives based on community needs and interests. |
| 4.2 | The library's planning process includes significant community feedback gathered through focus groups, surveys, interviews, patron comments, staff observations, and usage statistics. |
| 4.3 | The library's strategic plan includes specific goals for surveying community diversity. |
| 4.4 | The library's planning includes facilities planning. (See Facilities, Design) |
| 4.5 | The library's strategic plan is updated every five years (CODE). |
Enhanced
| Number | Indicators |
|---|---|
| 4.6 | The library's strategic plan articulates a method for reflecting the demographic, ethnic, and social diversity of its community and regularly reviews and evaluates the linguistic, ethnic, and cultural diversity of its community. |
| 4.7 | The library's strategic plan is reviewed annually by board members and staff, including evaluation of progress toward goals. |
| 4.8 | The strategic plan and annual review of progress are reported to the governing authority and made available in hard copy or online for the community. |
| 4.9 | The library's planning process includes discussion of systemic racism and racial equity. |
Exemplary
| Number | Indicators |
|---|---|
| 4.10 | The library uses its strategic plan and annual review of progress to determine whether additional funding is necessary, and if so, pursues additional funding through grant writing, private fundraising, or increased tax support, as necessary. |
| 4.11 | The library develops a Technology Strategic Plan at least once every three years, with at least one staff member keeping ongoing track of trends in library technology. In preparing to do so, the library regularly tracks the following metrics:
|
Helpful Notes
While a library's strategic plan generally focuses on those areas of primary interest as identified by library staff, board, patrons, and other community members, some potential areas for consideration might include:
- Administration and Finance/Fundraising
- Advocacy Efforts
- Collections Management
- Community Partnerships
- Disaster Readiness
- Personnel Management
- Preservation Planning
- Public Services
- Public Relations
Helpful Resources
- Local and Regional Government Alliance on Race & Equity (GARE) National network of government working to achieve racial equity and advance opportunities for all. This organization offers Racial Equity Action Plans: A How-To-Manual, as well as a variety of tools and resources including Advancing Racial Equity in Public Libraries: Case Studies from the Field.
Written policies provide a foundational and transparent resource for communicating expectations of all members of the library community, including staff, boards, patrons, volunteers, donors, and others. Such policies should be considered "living" documents that evolve as expectations, priorities, or environmental factors such as technology or applicable laws change.
NOTE: For simplicity, references to Policies include both Policies and Procedures.
Outcome 5
The library develops transparent policies representative of sound management practices to ensure efficient and effective library operations.
Essential
| Number | Indicators |
|---|---|
| 5.1 | The library has a written set of policies to govern library personnel, operations, and services which are transparent and easily accessible to library staff and the public. |
| 5.2 | Library policies are written to emphasize that basic services are free and welcome to all. |
| 5.3 | The library complies with North Carolina law regarding confidentiality of customer records (NCGS 125-19). |
| 5.4 | Policies are updated to reflect changes in applicable local, state, and federal laws, and with relevant court decisions. |
| 5.5 | The library reviews all policies at least every five years, updating as needed. |
Enhanced
| Number | Indicators |
|---|---|
| 5.6 | The library establishes an Information Security Policy. |
| 5.7 | The library considers the use of fine-free policies. While patrons would be liable for lost books, the library would be considered whole when the item is returned. |
| 5.8 | The library reviews all policies at least every three years, updating as needed. |
Exemplary
| Number | Indicators |
|---|---|
| 5.9 | The library reviews all policies every year, updating as needed. |
| 5.10 | Library policies are made available in multiple languages, as appropriate for the community. |
| 5.11 | Library policies are reviewed and revised for implicit biases and barriers to service. |
Helpful Resources
- Policy examples (Public Library Association) The Public Library Association offers policy examples from the American Library Association and other public library systems.
- Privacy Toolkit (American Library Association) Current issues and threats to privacy, potential solutions, and resources offered by the American Library Association.
Policy Topics
The library may choose to include the following policy topics:
- Personnel policies, including hiring, evaluation, salary, retirement, employee conduct, etc.
- Circulation policies, including loan periods, fines, overdues, etc.
- Collection development policies, including intellectual freedom, gifts and donations, weeding, etc.
- Facility use policies, including accessibility, displays, meeting room use/signups, etc.
- Public safety policies, including unattended children, inappropriate behavior, emergency, and disaster response, etc.
- Volunteers/Friends of the Library (See Community Engagement, Volunteers/FOL)