One of the most important responsibilities of the library board is to establish the policies of the library. Policies differ from procedures in that policies are broad, and procedures are specific. Policies tend to be more philosophical, while procedures are more technical.
In public libraries, policies are established by the board with the input of the director. Procedures, on the other hand, are developed by the staff in order to carry out the policy set by the board. For example, it may be the policy of the library to open at 10 a.m. The procedures for opening the library include turning on the lights, unlocking the door, and so forth.
The only procedure that should concern the library’s board is the one for handling a request for reconsideration of library materials made by a patron. “Challenged Materials” or “Request for Reconsideration” is generally the last section of the library’s collection development policy. More details are outlined below.
Library policies are:
- Broadly stated guidelines for actions and decisions
- General statements for supporting library operations, rules, regulations, and use
- Bases for procedures but not detailed courses of action
- Statements in accordance with purpose and legal basis for the library
- Effective tools for transferring decision making to lower levels in the organization
- Effective or operational from formulation date and continued effective until revised or deleted
- Lead to achievements of objectives.
Benefits of written library policies:
- They indicate a basic honesty and integrity of the library’s intentions.
- They support the library’s overall plans, goals, and objectives.
- They become available to everyone in the same form.
- They guide the library director and staff in implementation of board decisions.
- They can be disseminated to all affected.
- They provide direction and consistency in day-to-day service to the community and in library operations.
- They can be taught more easily to new employees.
- They can reduce uninformed decisions-making and crisis responses to problem situations.
- They can be referred to when misunderstandings occur.
- They can compel the board to think more sharply, thus helping achieve further clarity.
- They can protect the rights of, and ensure equitable treatment of, all patrons and staff members.
- They generate the confidence of all persons in the organization concerning the library’s management.
To be most effective, policies need to be:
- Reflective of the mission and vision statements of the library
- Consistent, so efficiency is maintained
- Flexible, so they can be updated as new needs arise
- Distinguishable from procedures
- Written, so they are easily communicated to staff
Remember:
- A library policy is a library policy only when it is approved by the board in an open meeting.
- The library’s director implements policy set by the board and works with library staff to create procedures to help staff implement board policy.
- The library’s director does not make policy. Once the board has approved a library policy, it is then the job of the board to explain and defend the policy to the community. Library trustees cannot explain or defend policies of which they are unaware.
- The library’s policies are public records and must be available for public inspection at the library. One easy way to make policies available to all is to include them on the library’s website.
- It is always a good idea to examine the policies of other libraries and “borrow” especially good wording instead of reinventing the wheel.
- The Idaho Public Records Law Manual is available for download.