La. Admin. Code tit. 25 § VII-2303

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 11, November 20, 2024

Section VII-2303 - Qualifying Conditions

A. Conditions (see §2305 for definitions) for qualifying for a two-year pilot library system grant and for a continuing library system grant are listed below.

1. Membership

a. Public Libraries in the Geographical Area Designated as a System

i. Membership shall be authorized by direct action of each public library board of control and each governing authority.

ii. Parish public libraries as well as municipal public libraries may become members of the system. If the library system continues after the pilot program, the municipal public library, in order to qualify for system membership, must become a part of the parish public library.

iii. At least 75 percent of the public libraries in the designated geographical area shall be members of the system. The population to be served by the system shall be at least 200,000.

b. Academic Library (or Libraries) in the Geographical Areas Designated as a System

i. Membership shall be authorized by the appropriate official of the academic institution.

ii. At least one academic library in the designated geographical area shall be a member of the system.

c. Special and Institutional Libraries in the Geographical Area Designated as a System. Membership shall be authorized by the appropriate official of management or of the institution.

d. No member library shall withdraw from the system during the two-year pilot period.

2. Organization

a. That public library which has a collection of at least 80,000 volumes and which serves the largest population in the system shall be designated the library center of the system.

b. During the two-year pilot period the director of the system shall be appointed by the state librarian with the endorsement of the administrative librarian of the library center; thereafter, said director of the system shall be appointed by the system board of commissioners with the endorsement of the administrative librarian of the library center and the state librarian. Also acceptable as a condition after the pilot period is the appointment of the director of the system by the system board of commissioners upon the recommendation of the executive council and with the endorsement of the administrative librarian of the library center and the state librarian.

c. The director of the system shall be the chief administrative officer of the system services. He shall serve as a member and presiding officer of the executive council and secretary of the system board of commissioners. He shall submit monthly and annual narrative, statistical, and financial reports to the state library.

d. The director of the system shall appoint and employ assistant librarians and other employees of the system and fix their salaries and compensation with the endorsement of the board of commissioners and the administrative librarian of library center.

e. The director of the system shall approve expenditures for payment, shall disburse grant funds, and shall maintain all necessary records in accordance with parish, municipal, or parish-municipal financial regulations.

f. The director of the system shall furnish surety bond with good and solvent surety in favor of the library system board of commissioners for such amount as said board may determine and conditioned as required by law.

g. The director of the system shall have authority to execute contracts for member academic, institutional, and special libraries for inter-library loan services.

h. The director of the system must be certified by the Louisiana State Board of Library Examiners.

i. A separate account shall be maintained for funds allotted to the system by the Louisiana State Library.

j. Executive Council

i. Each system shall have an executive council composed of the administrative librarians of the participating academic, public, institutional, and special libraries.

ii. The executive council shall develop a plan of service for the system and shall be responsible for its implementation. The executive council shall review the plan periodically and at the completion of the pilot program and annually thereafter shall submit a written evaluation of the project to the Louisiana State Library.

iii. The executive council shall meet at least bimonthly.

iv. At least quarterly, the executive council shall invite to its regular meeting designated school librarians (to assure representation from each parish), school library supervisors, directors of media centers at the parish level, and representatives of library education within the designated geographical area.

k. System Board of Commissioners

i. There shall be a system board of commissioners with one representative from the board of control of each member public library who shall be appointed by the governing body upon recommendation of the board of control. In addition, there shall be a lay member representing each member academic, institutional, and special library who shall be appointed by the appropriate official of the university, the institution, or of management.

ii. The system board of commissioners shall meet and organize immediately after their appointment and elect a president and vice-president. The director of the system shall serve as secretary of the system board of commissioners.

iii. The system board of commissioners shall act in an advisory capacity during the pilot period. It shall appear before governing bodies and other bodies whenever desirable, shall interpret the system concept to the public, and shall promote the services of the system.

3. Services

a. Access. The resources of the library center and all member libraries shall be available for use throughout the system by all other member libraries as well as by individual residents. In the case of use of the resources of the academic, institutional, and special library by other member libraries as well as by individual residents, the executive council shall adopt a policy recommended by the librarian of the academic, institutional, and special library and/or the authorized official of the university, the institution, and of management.

b. Hours of Opening. The library center must be open for service at least 66 hours per week.

4. Resources. The public library in which the library center is located shall have a collection of at least 80,000 volumes.

5. Maintenance of Public Library Fiscal Support

a. There shall be available for expenditures for service in each public library from local sources during the fiscal year for which the grant is made to the system not less than the total amount expended for services in each public library from such sources in the preceding fiscal year except when tax collections are less because of decreased assessed valuations.

b. There shall be available for expenditures for service in the public library in which the library center is located at least $2 per capita from local sources during the fiscal year for which the grant is made.

6. Reports

a. Monthly and annual narrative, statistical, and financial reports shall be submitted to the Louisiana State Library by the director of the system.

b. A written report and evaluation prepared by the executive council shall be submitted to the Louisiana State Library upon completion of the pilot program and annually thereafter.

7. Application for Grant

a. An application for an initial system grant with budget shall be developed by the executive council of the system and submitted by the administrative librarian of the library center to the state librarian. This application must be approved by the board of control and governing body of each participating public library and by the appropriate official of each participating academic, institutional, and special library.

b. The application with budget shall be approved by the state librarian with the consent of the State Library Board of Commissioners.

8. Contract. Upon approval of the application with budget the administrative librarian of the library center shall execute a contract with the state librarian, specifying the services to be rendered. The contract shall be renewed annually.

9. Accounting. Post audits, as required by law, will be made.

10. Assurance of Compliance

a. In compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ( Public Law 88-352) no person shall on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be denied service of the library system or any of its member libraries.

b. Any member library of the system which has not filed with the state library an assurance of Compliance with the Federal Civil Rights Act of 1964, shall do so and such assurance shall be attached to the application.

11. Books, Furniture, and Equipment. At the conclusion of the pilot period all books, furniture, and equipment purchased with system funds shall remain in the system on indefinite loan.

12. Continuing Fiscal Support of System

a. Should the system program accomplish the objectives stated and result in improved library service for the citizens of the region every effort will be made to secure state and federal funds for the continuing support of the system, the level of support to be determined after the evaluation of the two-year pilot program.

b. The state library will require the maintenance of effort described in Paragraph 6 above, and, in addition, will require that there be available for expenditures for service in each member public library at least $2 per capita from local sources.

13. Priorities in Grant Allotments. Preference will be given to the application for a system grant:

a. Which includes all academic, public, and special libraries in the designated geographical area.

b. From an area in which the public libraries most nearly reach the standards established in the "Standards Statement for Louisiana Public Libraries."

La. Admin. Code tit. 25, § VII-2303

Filed by the Louisiana State Library at the Office of the State Register, December 11, 1974, amended by the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, State Library, LR 39:69 (January 2013).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Adopted in accordance with R.S. 25:9, R.S. 25:14 and R.S. 25:15.