Guidelines for Public Library Accreditation
by the Nebraska Library Commission - Help Page

Minimum Qualifications for a Nebraska Public Library

• Nebraska laws are at http://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/laws.php
• Federal laws (the U.S. Code) are available at: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text
• Federal Regulations (the Code of Federal Regulations) are available at: http://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text

Public Library Accreditation Form

• Policy Samples, State Library of Iowa
• Recommended Policies for Public Libraries. New Mexico State Library
• Wisconsin Public Library Policy Resources Including Links to Wisconsin Public Library Policies on the Web
• Sample Library Policies. Maine State Library.

1.03.01 Advocacy — Action taken in support of libraries, particularly political action to secure adequate funding for libraries.

1.03.03 Collection development — The process of planning and building a useful and balanced collection of library materials, based on ongoing assessment of the information needs of the library's customers. Includes selection criteria, resource sharing, materials replacement, weeding, etc. Often includes or refers to the Library Bill of Rights and Freedom to Read statements.

1.03.04 Confidentiality of patron records — In the delivery of library services, the right of patrons to have the nature of their research and library transactions remain private. In Nebraska this confidentiality extends even to revealing the identity of a library user unless proper court procedures seeking such information have been followed. See Nebraska Revised Statutes Section 84-712.05 (11). Also see the ALA Code of Ethics.

1.03.05 Customer complaints/feedback — Serves as a basis for written procedures to address complaints of customers whether these relate to book selection, library services, building concerns, etc. (Such procedures should have more than one step so that, for example, a customer might first complain to the library director, then, if appropriate, to the library board when addressing issues.) As with all policies, the policy itself is more general and does not include the specifics spelled out in the procedures.

1.03.06 Emergency, safety, and disaster planning — Policy which serves as the basis for a set of guidelines or steps prepared in advance to help the staff of a library deal with unusual occurrences that may temporarily disrupt normal operations (fires, bomb threats, security violations, etc.).

1.03.07 Exhibits, displays, bulletin boards — Serves as a basis for procedures relating to what is allowed and what is not allowed, to be displayed, exhibited, or posted on library premises. Serves as a basis for procedures relating to who can post, for how long, and where.

1.03.08 Facilities, including meeting rooms — The conditions governing the use of a public meeting room on the premises of the library; serves as a basis for procedures for reserving the room, and any restrictions on use. Such policies often address free speech and separation of church and state issues.

1.03.09 Gifts, memorials, donations — The basis upon which a library decides what gifts, memorials, and donations it will accept from interested donors, and how such gifts may be dealt with. Such a statement often can head off gifts that are not useful to the library which then must be disposed of, sometimes with negative consequences.

1.03.10 Intellectual Freedom — The right under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution for any person to read or express views that may be unpopular or offensive to some people, within certain limitations (libel, slander, obscenity, etc.). Additional information from ALA's site may prove useful:

• Library Bill of Rights
• Freedom to Read

1.03.11 Internet use — Also sometimes called, "acceptable use policy," establishes guidelines concerning the manner in which its computer systems and equipment may be used by patrons and staff, for example, prohibiting the use of the library computers for private commercial or unlawful activities.

1.03.12 Marketing — The basis of a library's plan to undertake a series of actions to successfully interest potential targeted customers in specific library products or services, and to persuade them to use or support these.

1.03.14 Patron behavior — Addresses the speech and actions of library users while they are on library premises. Such a policy takes into account the First Amendment right of free expression, and serves to ensure that users may exercise their constitutionally-protected right to receive information free from harassment, intimidation, and threats to personal safety and well-being in a safe and healthy environment.

1.03.15 Personnel — Covers all library employees and their working conditions. Sometimes this is part of the personnel policy of the governmental unit of which the library is a part. In any case, under Nebraska law, such policy (and its related procedures) must be approved by the governmental unit in order to take effect.

1.03.16 Public services — Activities and operations of a library that bring the staff into regular direct contact with its users, including circulation, reference, online services, bibliographic instruction, interlibrary loan, etc.

1.03.17 Staff professional development — Often referred to as continuing education. Further study by a library staff member of work-related subjects, undertaken during employment. Sometimes initiated by the employer, but also through voluntary attendance at conferences, workshops, seminars, etc.

1.03.18 Weeding — The process of examining items in a library title-by-title to identify for permanent withdrawal those that meet pre-established criteria especially when shelf space is limited or circulation is low. May be part of the larger Collection Development policy, if weeding is specifically detailed in that policy.

Note: Some of the above definitions are from the Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science by Joan M. Reitz, found at the website ABC-CLIO and used with permission from the author. You may be able to find in that resource useful definitions for any additional policies the library has that are not included in those above.
  Fact sheet #16 for Friends and Foundations (United for Libraries).
Fact Sheet #26: Sample Memorandum of Understanding Between Friends and Libraries (ALA)

This will be pre-populated using figures reported by you and peer libraries. (See the introduction to the guidelines.)

The special collection referred to here might be a genealogy collection, or a collection of local interest, which probably will rarely if ever be weeded. Therefore, such collections should not be considered when calculating how much of the collection was weeded. Statistics on weeding are reported by the library in the section of the Public Libraries Survey called "Library Collections."

This guideline is describing the regular use of Websites to provide information in answer to questions from library users. These would include sites found through search engines, or sites that have been recommended by experts. Examples of such sites include WebMD, Copyright and Fair Use or Merriam-Webster Online. Examples of Internet-based resources may be found in Websites Selected by Librarians through NebraskAccess at http://nebraskaccess.ne.gov.

Databases such as those available through NebraskAccess and others are treated under Guideline 3.05 and 3.05.01.

Online services such as Overdrive are treated under Guideline 4.06.

A "database" is a collection of information that is organized so that it can easily be accessed, managed, and updated. By definition it does not include electronic collections of book titles or musical selections (such as Freegal), but it does include databases such as Ancestry.com, the Chilton guides, etc.

"Access" includes providing the library password to library users. This may be accomplished with a sign posted in the library and a link on the library Website.