How the Chester County Library System is Organized and Funded

How the Chester County Library System is Organized and Funded Rev. 2018 EMA http://www.ccls.org

Notes about this Learning Module • Please review the links to documents and websites in this module. Information in these references could be part of the final quiz! • The Quiz button will take you the module quiz. • The Fill Out CE Form button will take you to the CE form. • Directions for navigating the module plus printing and saving your quiz results: User Guide Any other questions? Please email the Staff Development Coordinator 2

What you will Learn … • The definition of a public library • Governance and structure of the library system in Pennsylvania • How libraries are organized in Chester County • How libraries are funded in Chester County 3

QUIZ • There is a 10 point quiz at the end of this learning module. • You need to get 100% on the quiz to get credit for completing the learning module. 4

Public Libraries Defined FSCS** defines a public library as follows: A public library is established under state enabling laws or regulations to serve the residents of a community, district, or region. A public library is an entity that provides at least the following: 1) an organized collection of printed or other library materials, or a combination thereof 2) a paid staff to provide and interpret such materials as required to meet the informational, cultural, recreational, and/or educational needs of a clientele; 3) an established schedule in which services of the staff are available to clientele; and 4) the facilities necessary to support such a collection, staff and schedule. Note: State law determines whether an entity is a public library. Ref: https://www.imls.gov/sites/default/files/publications/documents/publiclibrarystructureorg3-1996_0.pdf **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. 5

Many people, offices and governing bodies are involved in creating, maintaining and improving public library service in Pennsylvania. 6

Offices and Governing Bodies: Pennsylvania Libraries General Assembly The Department of Education Governor The Office of Commonwealth Libraries Governor’s Advisory Council on Library Development The Bureau of The Bureau of State Library Library Development 7

Offices and Governing Bodies: Pennsylvania Libraries Establishes the legal framework for General Assembly libraries in Pennsylvania, appropriates funds for the State Library and provides State Aid for The Department of Education statewide resource centers, district center libraries and local public libraries. The Office of Commonwealth Libraries The Bureau of The Bureau of State Library Library Development 8

General Assembly Oversees the Office of Commonwealth Libraries which includes the State Library and the The Department of Education Bureau of Library Development. The Office of Commonwealth Libraries Administers State Aid to public libraries, awards LSTA grants and plans initiatives to improve The Bureau of The Bureau of Library library service with the state. State Library Development 9

General Assembly The Department of Education The Office of Commonwealth Libraries Coordinates services and information for libraries. Works to strengthen and The Bureau of The Bureau of Library improve library service State Library across the state. Development Pennsylvania libraries can get help from library development advisors. One of four statewide library resources centers. Serves the information needs of State Government and is the destination for materials by and about Pennsylvania. 10

Governor Offers advice and recommendations to the Governor in areas relating to Governor’s general policies and operations of the Advisory Council on Library State Library and the Development Commonwealth’s library program. Council members represent library trustees, librarians and lay advocates. 11

Public libraries in Pennsylvania are authorized under Title 24 of the Pennsylvania Statutes Annotated. The following types of libraries may be found in the state: Local Public Libraries: These libraries may be formed by any municipality, township, or school district or by a deed, gift or testamentary provision, or as nonprofit ( 501c3) corporations. ● Governed by a board of directors. ● Funding may be provided by a voter-approved referendum, fees and charges, and a combination of federal, state and local appropriations. County Libraries: These libraries are organized under the same provisions as local public libraries to serve the residents of an entire county. ● Local funding comes from the county government but municipalities within the county may provide additional support. Municipal Libraries: Municipal authorities may provide library services. They are created by ordinance of a county, municipality, township, or combination of the above. ● Governed by a board appointed by the creating government(s) which contribute 15% or more of the yearly income of the library from all municipal sources ( Title 22 section 141.21(2)(i)(B)). 12

Provide the services most needed and requested by local citizens. Basic collections and services LOCAL vary in quantity and quality LIBRARIES with the size of the community and the amount of money invested in the library. Groups of libraries that unite to improve the level of service to all users within the system, LIBRARY STATEWIDE work jointly to increase RESOURCE financial support and share SYSTEMS resources. CENTERS Purpose is to acquire major research Designated local libraries that collections and make their resources provide resources and assist available. They augment the collections local libraries within their of local libraries and district centers. district with long range DISTRICT planning, professional LIBRARY There are 4 Resource Centers development, program, staffing in Pennsylvania and funding issues and CENTERS interpreting information from the State. 13

The Chester County Library System (CCLS) Formed in 1965 as a federated system to improve library service to all residents in the County. A federated system means each member library is an independent library with their own board of trustees and not a branch of the Chester County Library. 14

CCLS consists of 16 full member libraries, two of which have one branch each. 1. Paoli Library is a branch of the Tredyffrin Public Library. 2. Henrietta Hankin Branch Library is a branch of the Chester County Library, Exton. This organizational design allows for effective and efficient sharing of resources to ensure quality library service for the citizens of the county. 15

Each member library agrees to some specified requirements while retaining some independence. Becoming a member of a library system is voluntary and not required for libraries to receive State Aid. However, the benefits of joining a system are great because the services provided by the System headquarters are valuable and help member libraries deliver quality library service. 16

All public libraries in Chester County are members of the Chester County Library System and have signed the System Membership Agreement which is reviewed, updated and signed on a regular basis. This agreement contains what services will be provided by the System headquarters, and what is required of each member library to maintain its membership in the System. 17

All libraries in the System must make their collections and services available on an equal basis to all who live, work, own property or attend school in Chester County! 1 - Atglen Public Library 2 - Avon Grove Public Library 4 - Chester County Library & District Center, Exton 5 - Chester Springs Library 6 - Coatesville Area Public Library • Provide services 7 - Downingtown Library most needed and 8 - Easttown & Library Information Center requested 9 - Henrietta Hankin Branch Library 10 - Honey Brook Community Library 3 - Kennett Library • Collections that 11 - Malvern Public Library meet the needs of 12- Oxford Library 13 - Paoli Library their communities 14 - Parkesburg Free Library (service areas.) 15 - Phoenixville Public Library 16 - Spring City Free Library 17 - Tredyffrin Public Library 18 - West Chester Public Library 18

A library that is …. ● Designated by the State Librarian with the approval of the Advisory Council on Library Development. ● Receives District Center Aid from the State for the purpose of making resources and services available free to all residents of the district. ● Provides and coordinates supplementary services to libraries within the district. These libraries become a part of the district library center system 19

The Governor’s Advisory Council on Library Development designated the Chester County Library, Exton to be a District Center Library for all public libraries in Chester County in the late 1960s. If a local library in Chester County wants to receive State Aid money, its Board of Trustees, by resolution, must commit to participation in the District Library Center. Each year, the directors from each member library meet to negotiate a District Center Aid and a County Coordination Aid Budget 20

The System Advisory Council (SAC) A group created toadvise the Chester County Library System (CCLS) Board on integrated library services for all citizens of Chester County. Participation in the SAC is not only required but is also important to help further the vision and mission of the library system 21

Each library in the System is represented on the System Advisory Council (SAC) by the Library Director or Branch Manager and one Trustee. • Bylaws address the rotation of SAC officers. • Each member library receives one vote. • The SAC meets quarterly. 22

THE SAC … ● Develops, reviews and recommends plans, policies, services, and programs for the Chester County Library System. ● Reviews and recommends to the CCLS Board the Membership Agreement and the Funding Formula. ● Reviews the District Center Aid and County Coordination Aid budgets. ● Serves as a legislative advocacy network. ● Encourages continuing education opportunities for CCLS member library staff and trustees. 23

Relationships within the Chester County Library System Board of Trustees Board of Trustees Chester County Library Chester County Library System Chester County Library Administrative District Center Headquarters County CCLS Coordination District Membership Aid Negotiated Agreement Agreement Agreement 16 Member Library Boards of Trustees 16 Member Libraries 24

Board of Trustees of the Chester Board of Trustees of the Chester County Library County Library System • Appointed by the County of Chester Board of Commissioners • Provide leadership system-wide It is important to note that while the Board of and for CCL Trustees of the Chester County Library and the Board of Trustees of the Chester County • Current Board members are: Library System are depicted as two entities, their bylaws identify them as one with two Earl M. Baker - President distinct functions and the members of both Richard Hankin – Vice President Boards are the same. In 2011, the members William F. Connor- Secretary Kathleen M. Pearse – Treasurer of the Boards, decided it would be best if James B. Norton, III they delineated the duality of their function JoAnn Weinberger and responsibility. To this end they started 1 Vacancy holding two separate Board meetings: one to conduct the business of the Chester County Library and District Center and one for the business of the Chester County Library System. 25

DISTRICT SERVICES Specified by Library Code 22 PA Code § 141.22 & 24 PA Code §9338 The District Negotiated Agreement is controlled by the Library Code and as a District Library Center, the Chester County Library and District Center is mandated to provide certain services. District Center These services include: • Children & young adult services • Consultant services • Continuing education - board & District staff Negotiated • Daily van delivery Agreement • Interlibrary loan • Databases and downloadable materials • Professional collection 16 Member Library Boards of Trustees • Public relations services • Reference & information service 16 Member Libraries These services are funded through State Aid money called the District Center Aid Budget and it is these services and budget that are negotiated annually in May. This budget runs July 1 to June 30. 26

COUNTY COORDINATION AID SERVICES Chester County Library District Center Paid to qualifying county libraries or library systems to implement a county wide cooperative plan to improve or extend service. County Currently this includes: Coordination Aid • OverDrive platform and funds for Agreement content • Chesconet • Computer Lease Agreement 16 Member Library Boards of Trustees 16 Member Library Boards of Trustees • Boopsie, (CCLS mobile app) • Envisionware (software to measure 16 Member Libraries computer usage) 16 Member Libraries • OCLC ( cataloging and Interlibrary loan services) • Outreach Services • Strategic Plan in 2017 27

The System Membership Agreement is the CCLS System negotiated written agreement of participation Headquarters between the Chester County Library System Board and each member library, in which obligations, services and contributions of each party are stated. Currently the services CCLS System provided by the Chester County Library Membership System Headquarters are: Agreement • Accounting Services • Advocacy – legislative & community • Cataloging services 16 Member Library Boards of Trustees • Consulting Services • Continuing education - board & staff • System wide ILS 16 Member Libraries • Internet & WiFi access • Website & electronic resources • Development 28

Main areas of responsibility for each member library board of Trustees: • Advocacy • Employ Library Director • Fiscal Responsibility • Fund Raising • Library Governance • Policies • Public Relations 29

How libraries are funded in Chester County “Libraries will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no libraries.” Anne Herberts Public libraries in Pennsylvania receive funding from a variety of sources. The three main sources of funding are local and state government and private fundraising. 30

The BIGGER picture: How Pennsylvania Libraries Are Funded Reality Public library funding is primarily While state money does help the state’s responsibility. support local libraries, these dollars can be inconsistent The greatest responsibility for and prone to cuts. Local funding of public libraries is at the dollars make up the majority local level. Local communities of budgets for all American are responsible for funding basic public libraries Source: Geek the Library library services. Pennsylvania ranks among the highest of the 50 states for state support for libraries. In local government support Pennsylvania ranks in the bottom 10 of the 50 states. 31

Local government funding includes • Contributions from municipal governments (Boroughs & Townships). This may be : • A voter referendum millage (stable, hard to get and hard to change); • An appropriated millage or (stable, hard to get… but can be changed by municipal officials); • An Appropriation (annually decided on by municipal officials) • County Aid which is distributed in accordance with the CCLS funding formula. This is an Appropriated millage State money through the State Subsidy to Public Library program is designed to stimulate local financial support of public libraries and to provide a reliable level of quality public library service across the Commonwealth. 32

Public libraries receive federal money through competitive grants such as the Library Services and Technology Act grant program and through a program known as eRate which provides discounts to assist libraries in obtaining affordable telecommunications and Internet access. Other sources of income might include money the library raises through development projects (annual giving campaigns, special fund raising events, etc), grants from organizations (like the Friends of the Library), fees charged by the library for meeting room use, rental of DVDs and other materials as well as fines accrued on overdue materials. Let’s look more closely at each funding source! 33

Map of Library Funding in Chester County Contributions Distributed by Commonwealth Libraries to public libraries Based on CCLS formula CCLS’s Member’s Share of State Aid Share State Aid Chester County Library System Member Administrative Libraries Headquarters County Tax County Tax Support Millage Based on CCLS formula Commissioners Fees, Fines Annual and Other Funds Appropriation Fundraising 34

State Subsidy Designed to stimulate local financial support of public libraries and to provide a reliable level of quality public library service across the Commonwealth. Each year the General Assembly appropriates the funds for the State Subsidy for Pennsylvania Public Libraries. Since public libraries in Pennsylvania are not a mandated service, this amount can vary from year to year and it is important that we have a strong advocacy initiative to keep the legislators informed of the essentiality of public libraries. 35

State Subsidy The amount appropriated is distributed by Commonwealth Libraries to public libraries in Pennsylvania based on a state level formula. There are six categories of state aid. Two of the categories, District Library Center Aid and County Coordination Aid stay with the Chester County Library and District Center so that it can provide the services that have been mandated in the Library Code or negotiated through the System Membership Agreement. This money is initially received by the Chester County Library and District Center, where The other four categories are: •Quality Library Aid after it is determined that member libraries •Incentive for Excellence Aid are compliant with meeting the standards, •Equal Distribution Grant distributes it based on the Chester County •Equalization Aid Library System’s funding distribution formula to the member libraries. Some member libraries rely more heavily on state aid to run their libraries than others. For some it is less than 10% of their total operating budget. For others it is 35%. This difference is because some libraries receive significantly more funding from their local municipalities or the county 36

The County of Chester The Commissioners have established a millage on Realizing that the citizens of Chester County property for public libraries. A are better served by having community large majority of the money libraries throughout the county, each year the collected from this tax millage Commissioners assign a portion of the goes directly to support the millage as an appropriation to the member two County Libraries - the libraries in an effort to support excellent Chester County Library, Exton library service throughout the county. The amount set aside by the Commissioners to and the Henrietta Hankin be distributed to the member libraries is Branch Library and covers all distributed through the Chester County personnel and facility Library System’s funding distribution formula. expenses at these two libraries. Like state aid, reliance on County money varies from library to library ranging from less than 10% all the way up to 85% at the Chester County and Henrietta Hankin Branch libraries. 37

Municipal Contributions Local communities are Member libraries are regularly advocating responsible for funding basic with the local municipalities in their service library service and while the area, keeping them informed of the State Subsidy program is essentiality of the library to their community. designed to stimulate local If the municipality contributes to the library, support, in Chester County we that money goes directly to the member have met with mixed success library and is not filtered through a formula. in raising money from local municipalities. We have some municipalities who are supporting over 75% of their local library’s operating budget and we have some municipalities who contribute nothing at all. 38

Other Funds Libraries have several other sources of funding to augment their public funding. These sources include fines and fees, fundraising, and Friends of the Library groups who raise money for the library. These monies go directly to the member library. 39

• Many people are involved in creating, maintaining and improving library service in Pennsylvania. • Public libraries are not mandated in Pennsylvania, but the Library Code defines what a public library is and how it is governed. • The Chester County Library System is a federated system. • Local communities are responsible for funding basic library service and the State Subsidy program is designed to support local support.. 40

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This publication is produced by the Chester County Library. © 2018 LMA The Chester County Library System is committed to equal access to programs, facilities and employment for all persons. 450 Exton Square Parkway, Exton PA 19341 Phone: 610-280-2600 ~ Fax 610-280-2688 ~Home Page: http://www.ccls.org0471. 42