Public libraries provide locally identified basic services that are free and available to all users. Libraries which cooperate and share resources are better able to meet the needs of users. The definition of basic public library services is a local one. Library services include access to and circulation of any type of resource, reference and information services, and admission and access to facilities and programs. Fees should not create barriers to information access.
Fees only provide a small percentage of the total public library budget.
Fees should not be established solely on the basis of format. Fee revenues should be retained by the library to support library services. Guidelines Public libraries should provide a mechanism to allow for exceptions to applying fees. The California Library Association supports the American Library Association's policies regarding access to information in electronic format. The role of libraries is to provide ideas and information across the spectrum of social and political thought, regardless of storage media, and to make these ideas and this information available to anyone who needs or wants it.