Standards and Accreditation - Moratorium Effective 11/16/2009
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filed under:
public library standards,
accreditation for public libraries,
standards, public library
The State Library is implementing a one-year moratorium on reporting progress
toward meeting standards and on new standards applications, effective
November 16, 2009.
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With the help of the Public Library Standards Advisory Task Force, we will revise and update the 4th edition of In Service to Iowa: Public Library Measures of Quality by August 2010.
- Direct State Aid funding for FY10 is being calculated based on your FY09 tier status. As of November 16, 2009, the accreditation and tier status of all public libraries are frozen. No accreditation reports will be due in February of 2010. Enrich Iowa-Direct State Aid payments for FY11 will be based on each library’s tier status as of November 2009. During FY11, (7/1/2010-6/30/2011) no library’s tier status will be reduced.
- All libraries will be given an extra year before they need to file a new report or accreditation application. For example, if you were due to file a new report or application for 2012, your new filing date would be 2013.
Please contact Scott Dermont at the State Library if your library is in a position to move up a tier level.
- Note that the moratorium applies only to your tier level status. The Direct State Aid report and Public Library Annual Survey, the other requirements for Direct State Aid, still must be submitted on time.
The time-line for this transition is as follows:
| 11/16/2009 | Standards Moratorium – Tier status frozen based on FY09 applications.
Libraries wishing to improve Tier level may apply by contacting Scott
Dermont at the State Library. |
| 11/16/2009 | Enrich Iowa Direct State Aid payments calculated based on current Tier status. |
| 2/26/2010 | FY11 accreditation reports due for libraries wishing to improve their tier status. |
| 6/2010 | Revised standards are available for review by libraries. |
| 8/2010 | Revised standards submitted to Iowa Commission of Libraries; once
approved by Commission, they will be distributed to libraries. |
| 9/2010 | FY 11 Enrich Iowa – Direct State Aid payments calculated based on FY09 Tier status. |
| 11/2010 | FY12 accreditation applications, based on 5th edition of In Service to Iowa, ready in online form. |
| 2/2011 | FY12 accreditation applications are due. |
| 9/2011 | Enrich Iowa Direct State Aid payments calculated based on FY12 tier status. |
- The basis for the Public Library Standards and Accreditation program is In Service to Iowa: Public Library Measures of Quality, which is currently in its fourth edition and last updated in 2003-2004. During the moratorium, State Library staff and the Public Library Standards Advisory Task Force will develop the fifth edition of the standards.
- We want to emphasize that the State Library’s Standards and Accreditation Program continues, and that the standards remain in effect during the moratorium period. The Standards and Accreditation program has helped improve public library services for Iowans, and we look forward to continuing to work with Iowa’s public libraries in this area.
Background
The State Library documents the condition of public library service in Iowa (Code of Iowa (256.51 (j)) by requiring public libraries to submit accreditation reports.
Iowa’s public library accreditation program has been in place since 1986 based on In Service to Iowa: Public Library Measure of Quality, 1985. The library community revised In Service to Iowa: Public Library Measures of Quality in 1989, 1997 and 2004.
Public Library Association Conference
