§ 141.26. Basic standards for local library members of a library system.
(a) A local library member of a library system is a local library, as defined in § 141.25(a) (relating to basic standards for local libraries) which has agreed to participate in a county, township or school district public library system from which some or most of its financial support is derived in the form of money, library materials, personnel or services.
(b) For a plan to be approved for the use of the equal distribution grant awarded to a library system on behalf of a member local library as authorized by section 303(7) of The Library Code (24 P.S. § 4303(7)), a local library member of a library system shall fulfill the following requirements:
(1) The local library member shall be governed as specified in § 141.21(2)(i)(B) (relating to local libraries).
(2) The library system shall qualify for basic aid as specified in section 303(1) of The Library Code (24 P.S. § 4303(1)).
(3) Service shall be provided as follows:
(i) The local library shall be open for service at least 20 hours per week during hours which are best suited to the needs of the residents of its service area.
(ii) Ready reference service shall be available at all times the local library is open.
(iii) The staff of the local library shall be ready and willing to communicate with the headquarters library or the district library center, whichever is most appropriate, for reference assistance and interlibrary loans.
(iv) The local library shall have a telephone which is listed in the local directory.
(v) The local library shall have a sign which clearly identifies it, from the outside, as a public library.
(4) Library materials shall be provided as follows:
(i) The local library shall have in its collection, available on its premises, not less than 6,000 items which are organized by subject and recorded in a manner which makes them easily accessible to the public. These items shall be currently useful to the residents of the service area. Libraries with collections of less than 6,000 will not be denied State aid if they can demonstrate the usefulness and vitality of their collections by circulation per capita or collection turnover rate in excess of the average for other libraries of comparable size and service area.
(ii) The local library shall budget and expend annually for the purchase of library materials twice the amount of the equal distribution grant allotted to it. For example, if the equal distribution grant is $900, then the expenditure for library materials in the year of the grant must be not less than $1,800.
(iii) The collection shall be selected to serve the informational, educational and recreational needs of all residents in its service area.
(iv) The local library shall have a collection of ready reference items of sufficient scope to meet the needs of the residents of its service area.
(v) The local library shall subscribe to and make available for use at least 10 different periodicals which are indexed in the Readers Guide to Periodical Literature or other recognized periodical indexes.
(5) Personnel policies shall be as follows:
(i) The local library shall be in the charge of a person who has been trained to recognize and provide for the informational, educational and recreational needs of the residents of the library’s service area. The training may be provided by the administrator of the library system or by the district library center.
(ii) The person in charge shall work on the premises of the local library not less than 20 hours weekly during hours when the library is open for service to the public.
(Editor’s Note: The Library Code (24 P.S. § § 4101—4503) was repealed by the act of November 1, 2012 (P.L. 1683, No. 210) and replaced by 24 Pa.C.S. Chapter 93 (relating to Public Library Code).)
Source The provisions of this § 141.26 adopted May 22, 1981, effective May 23, 1981, 11 Pa.B. 1800.
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