Rhode Island Code of Regulations › Title 220 - Department of Administration › Chapter 60 - ENTERPRISE TECHNOLOGY STRATEGY AND SERVICE › Subchapter 15 - LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SERVICES › Part 2 - Minimum Standards and Regulations for Rhode Island Public Libraries (220-RICR-60-15-02) › Section 220-RICR-60-15-2.3 - Minimum Standards and Regulations

Current through June 14, 2024
A. In order to be
				 eligible to receive state aid pursuant to R.I. Gen. Law §29-6-3(3)
				 a library must meet the following Minimum Standards and Regulations for Rhode
				 Island Public Libraries:
1. The library
				 operates according to relevant federal, state, and local laws. The library must
				 be in compliance with all federal, state, and local building, fire, safety, and
				 handicapped access codes for public buildings, such as the Americans with
				 Disabilities Act (ADA), as well as relevant portions of R.I. Gen. Laws Title 29
				 entitled "Libraries", R.I. Gen. Laws §
											38-2-3 entitled "Access to Public Records", and R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 42-46 entitled
				 "Open Meetings."
2. The library
				 operates according to relevant American Library Association (ALA) ethical and
				 philosophical statements for public libraries. Relevant statements will be
				 enumerated on the OLIS websites.
3.
				 The library adopts and periodically reviews written policies governing its
				 services.
4. The library is open a
				 minimum number of hours each week based on community needs and the population
				 of the city/town (or combined cities/towns) according to the most recent
				 census. Unique hours are the total hours all public library facilities in a
				 city/town (cities/towns) are open with concurrent hours being counted only
				 once.
a. Hours refer to the winter schedule
				 in cases where winter and summer hours differ.
Population
Unique Hours
Each Combined Library
Under 10,000
35 hours
25 hours
10,000- 19,999
50 hours
25 hours
20,000- 49,999
60 hours
25 hours
50,000 and Over
64 hours
25 hours
b.
				 In the case of combined libraries, each individual library must meet the
				 Combined Library minimum, and the aggregate of all library hours in the
				 city/town (cities/towns) must meet the Unique Hours minimum.
5. The library extends full access
				 and borrowing privileges without charge to all Rhode Island
				 residents.
6. The library makes its
				 entire range of materials and services available to everyone regardless of
				 ability, providing assistive technology, software, materials, alternative
				 access to library resources, and staff assistance in using them as
				 needed.
7. The library provides
				 trained staff to help patrons use library resources, including electronic and
				 digital resources, during all operating hours.
8. The library provides its community with
				 resources and assistance to support digital literacy.
9. The library provides a website with access
				 to online library resources, promotion of "AskRI.org", and current information
				 about library services, including hours of operation, schedules of library
				 events, contact information, and other information necessary to inform the
				 community about library operations.
10. The library has a director who is a
				 professional librarian.
11. The
				 library/combined libraries of a city/town (cities/towns) have a minimum of 1
				 FTE staff excluding custodians, security staff, and pages for each 3,000
				 population (rounded to the nearest 3,000) based on the most recent
				 census.
12. Library staff are
				 trained in and assigned to provide the following services at the minimum level
				 specified in the chart below. More than one requirement may be met by a single
				 qualified staff member; conversely, more than one qualified staff member may be
				 designated to meet the requirement. In the case of combined libraries, each
				 library must meet the requirements for the Under 10,000 category and the
				 combined libraries together must meet the requirements for their population
				 category.
Core Competency
Population Under 10,000
Population 10,000 - 19,000
Population 20,000 - 49,000
Population Over 50,000
Management (Director)
1/2 FTE
1 FTE
1 FTE
1 FTE
Youth Services (Professional Librarian)
1/2 the time the library is open
1 FTE
Children: 1 FTE Young Adult: 1/2 FTE
Children: 1 FTE Young Adult: 1 FTE
Reference (Professional Librarian)
1/2 the time the library is open
1/2 FTE
1 FTE and additional professional librarian(s)
								whenever the library is open
1 FTE and additional professional librarian(s)
								whenever the library is open
Public Access Computing Technology (trained
								staff)
whenever the library is open
whenever the library is open
1 FTE and additional trained staff whenever the
								library is open
1 FTE and additional trained staff whenever the
								library is open
Digital Literacy (trained staff)
whenever the library is open
whenever the library is open
whenever the library is open
whenever the library is open
Additional Professional Librarian(s)
1 FTE professional librarian per 10,000 population
								(rounded to the nearest 10,000) in addition to the above requirements
13. For safety reasons, at least two workers,
				 who may include custodians, security staff, or pages, are in the building
				 during all open hours.
14. The
				 library conducts a community needs assessment at least every five
				 years.
15. The library adopts a
				 five-year long range plan of service, based in part on the community needs
				 assessment, and reviews it annually.
16. The library adopts personnel policies and
				 procedures that apply to all staff and volunteers and makes them available to
				 staff and volunteers.
17. In a
				 city/town (cities/towns) that has designated more than one library to provide
				 library services, a library council composed of the chair of the board of
				 trustees and the director of each library, and a representative of the
				 city/town (cities/towns) meets annually to coordinate services and make a joint
				 application for state grant-in-aid.
18. The library is a certified member of the
				 Library of Rhode Island.
19. The
				 library is a member in good standing of Ocean State Libraries, Inc.
20. The library provides adequate space to
				 implement a full range of library services, including community meeting
				 space(s), as determined by its long-range plan.
21. The library provides free access to
				 computers for public use.
22. The
				 library offers free access to the Internet, industry-compatible office
				 productivity software, and the ability to use personal storage devices on
				 public computers.
23. The library
				 ensures that all public hardware and software are updated regularly and in
				 proper working order.