NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS Technical Report March 1996 Public Libra~ Structure and Organization in the United States Stephen Owens Bureau of the Census Carrel Kindel, Project Officer National Center for Education Statistics U.S. Department of Education Office of Educational Research and Improvement NCES 96-229 U.S. Department of Education Richard W. Riley Secretary Office of Educational Research and Improvement Sharon P. Robinson Assistant Secretary National Center for Education Statistics Jeanne E. Griffith Acting Commissioner The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the primary federal entity for collecting, analyzing, and reporting data related to education in the United States and other nations. It fulfills a congressional mandate to collect, collate, analyze, and report full and complete statistics on the condition of education in the United States; conduct and publish repotts and specialized analyses of the meaning and significance of such statistics; assist state and local education agencies in improving their statistical systems; and review and report on education activities in foreign countries. NCES activities are designed to address high priority education data needs; provide consistent, reliable, complete, and accurate indicators of education status and trends; and repoti timely, useful, and high quality data to the U.S. Department of Education, the Congress, the states, other education policy makers, practitioners, data users, and the general public. We strive to make our products available in a variety of formats and in language that is appropriate to a variety of audiences. You, as our customer, are the best judge of our success in communicating information effectively. If you have any comments or suggestions about this or any other NCES product or report, we would like to hear from you, Please direct your comments to: National Center for Education Statistics Office of Educational Research and Improvement U.S. Department of Education 555 New Jersey Avenue NW Washington, DC 20208–5574 March 1996 Contact: Carrel Kindel (202) 219-1371 For sale by the U.S. Government Printing Office Superintendent of Documents, Mail Stop: SSOP, Washington, DC 20402-9328 ISBN 0-16 -053192-6 FOREWORD This report was prepared for the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) by the Governments Division of the U.S. Bureau of the Census. The principal author was Stephen Owens of the Governments Division. This report is the fifth in a series that constitutes a comprehensive evaluation of the public library statistics program carried out amually by the Federal State Cooperative System for Public Library Data (the FSCS). The FSCS membership consists of the Federal government (through the NCES), the state governments (generally through their respective state library agencies), and representatives from the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science and the American Library Association. The purposes of the comprehensive evaluation are several. One goal is to raise specific information collection issues for discussion among the participants in the FSCS and the professional libraq community in general. Another goal is to serve as a background for revising the FSCS classification structure. This evaluation is also intended to promote standard application of the classtication system by survey respondents. This report contributes to the comprehensive evaluation by providing reference information about the legal structure and organization of public libraries within the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Assistance from the many state library agencies, the FSCS liaisons in the states, and representatives from the American Library Association and the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science is gratefully acknowledged. 111 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION . ...1 CHAPTER 1. PUBLIC LIBRARIES INTHEUNITED STATES . ...3 CHAPTER2. THELEGAL STRUCTUREAND ORGANIZATION OFPUBLICLIBRARIES 13 ALABAMA . ...13 ALASKA . ,, ., . .,, .,, . ...14 ARIZONA . ...14 ARKANSAS . ...14 CALIFORNIA . .,..,.,,..,..........,,.,14 COLORADO . ., . .,, ,, ., . ...15 CONNECTICUT . , .,, .,, .,, . ...16 DELAWARE . .,, .,, .,, ,,, .,, ., . ...16 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA . ...17 FLORIDA . ...17 GEORGIA . ...18 HAWAII . ...18 IDAHO, . ...18 ILLINOIS . ...18 INDIANA ., ., . .,, . ...19 IOWA . , . ...20 KANSAS . , . ., . ...20 KENTUCKY, . ,,, ,,, ,,, ,,, ,,, ,, ., .,.....21 LOUISIANA . ...21 MAINE . ...22 MARYLAND . , . .,, .,, , ., . ., . ., . ...23 MASSACHUSETTS . , . ...23 MICHIGAN . ...24 MINNESOTA ,, .,,,,,.,25 MISSISSIPPI . ...25 MISSOURI . ., .,, . ., . ., ., . .,, . ...26 MONTANA . ,,, ., .,, . ., .,, . ...26 NEBRASKA . ,, .,, ,,, ,,, .,, .,, ., . ...27 NEVADA . , . .,, .,, ,,, . ., ., . ...27 NEWHAMPSHIRE . ., .,,.,,.,,.,..,.........,28 NEW JERSEY . ...28 NEWMEXICO, . ...29 NEW YORK . ., .,...............,....,,30 NORTH CAROLINA . ...,.,................,.,31 NORTHDAKOTA . ...31 OHIO . ., . ., . ...32 OKLAHOMA . ...33 O~GON . ., .,, . .,, ,,, . ., . ...33 PENNSYLVANIA . ...34 RHODE ISLAND . ...35 v SOUTH CAROLINA . ...35 SOUTHDAKOTA . ...35 TENNESSEE . ...36 TEXAS . ...36 UTAH . ...37 VERMONT . ...37 VIRGINIA . ...38 WASHINGTON . ...38 WEST VIRGINIA . ...39 WISCONSIN . ...39 WYOMING . , ., . ...40 vi LIST OF TABLES Tablel. Number of Public Libraries and Facilities, by State: l993 . 10 Table 2. Legal Basis for Public Libraries, by State: 1993 . ...11 vii ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THIS REPORT The following abbreviations are used frequently throughout this report: FSCS-Federal State Cooperative System--a formal system whereby the state and federal governments work together to collect public library information and statistics. Established by law, with full participation by the National Center for Education Statistics, state library agencies, and the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science. The full title is the Federal State Cooperative System for Public Library Data. FSCS/PLS--Federal State Cooperative System/Public Library Statistics Program--refers to the statistical program or data set of the annual public library census..