Definition of a Public Library

At the June 2008 CPLA Certification Review Committee and Certification Program Committee meeting, the committees agreed on the following definition from NCES (National Center for Education Statistics) definition, which is based on the FSCS definition (Federal-State Cooperative System State Data Coordinators).

Public library: A public library is an entity that is established under state enabling laws or regulators to serve a community, district, or region, and that provides at least the following: 1) an organized collection of printed or other library materials, or a combination thereof; 2) paid staff; 3) an established schedule in which services of the staff are available to the public; 4) the facilities necessary to support such a collection, staff, and schedule; and 5) is supported in whole or in part with public funds.