Alabama Administrative Code › Title 520 - ALABAMA PUBLIC LIBRARY SERVICE › Chapter 520-2-3 - PLANNING GUIDELINES FOR PUBLIC LIBRARY SERVICE › Section 520-2-3-.02 - Guidelines For The Development And Approval Of Agreements To Provide Library Service Across State Lines

Current through Register Vol. 42, No. 9, June 28, 2024
(1) These
			 Guidelines for the Development and Approval of Agreements to Provide Library
			 Service Across State Lines have been jointly developed by the Alabama Attorney
			 General and the APLS Executive Board with the assistance of the Interstate
			 Library Cooperation Committee. Their purpose is to aid eligible public library
			 agencies, defined as "any unit or agency of local or state government operating
			 or having power to operate a library", who are seeking to enter into such
			 agreements in order to raise the level of library service offered to the
			 citizens of Alabama and adjacent states.
(2) Created in response to a growing number
			 of requests for information on providing cooperative library service where
			 multi-state delivery would be "effective", "adequate", and "efficient", these
			 Guidelines aim at providing librarians and their governing bodies with an
			 understanding of the procedures necessary to develop interstate library
			 agreements among two or more states. In no way do these Guidelines attempt to
			 substitute for those sections of the
Code of Ala.
			 1975
, which define the statutory requirements for such agreements.
			 Rather, they are designed to serve as an aid to understanding the extent and
			 meaning of the statutes.
(3)
			 Although these Guidelines are intended primarily for the benefit of Alabama's
			 public libraries, many of the principles within will prove useful to public
			 school systems or public colleges and universities seeking to provide, or
			 benefit from, library service across state boundaries. Both the Alabama
			 Attorney General and the APLS Director will assist, where requested, in the
			 development of agreements. All such non-public library agreements will require
			 approval by the Alabama Attorney General and copies of such agreements must be
			 filed with the APLS Director, Alabama's designated compact
			 administrator.
(4) Eligible parties
			 to an interstate library agreement: Public library agencies may contract to
			 establish interstate library districts through a library agreement for the
			 provision of specified library services. Private library agencies cannot
			 establish such distric4ts but may participate in them once they are
			 established. The Code of Alabama provides the following definitions:
(a)
Public library
			 agency
means any unit or agency of local or state government
			 operating or having power to operate, a library
(b)
Private library
			 agency
means any nongovernmental entity which operates or assumes
			 a legal obligation to operate a library.
(c)
Library
			 agreement
means a contract for establishing an interstate library
			 district pursuant to this compact or providing for the joint or cooperative
			 furnishing of library services.
(d)
			 In addition, the
Code of Alabama
implies the following
			 definition:
Interstate library district m
eans the
			 areas of two or more states which are included in the contract or library
			 agreement providing for service across state lines. As explained in Section
			 41-8-21,
			 Article III, an interstate library district may be as simple as a contract
			 defining how the citizens of a town in one state can make use of a public
			 library supported by a town in an adjacent state. On the other hand, Article IV
			 of the same section allows for the creation of a more elaborate type of
			 interstate library district which, instead of providing for services from an
			 existing public library agency, actually has its own governing board,
			 facilities, and staff to provide services itself.