Good question.

There are three things you must do when a permanent director leaves.

• Submit a verification form that the permanent director is leaving.
• Appoint an acting director while you begin the search for a new permanent director.
• Submit a verification form for the appointment of the acting director.

As you know a permanent library director must meet an educational requirement as one of the requirements for State Aid to Public Libraries.  However, the acting director does not need to meet the educational requirement.  The acting director can be in place up to three years.   (605 CMR 4.01 (4): ” A municipality will be considered ineligible for direct state aid if the library has had an acting chief librarian for three or more years from the date that the position became vacant.”)

When a permanent director has been appointed you must:

• Submit a verification form that indicates the acting director has left.
• Submit a verification form indicating that a permanent director has been appointed.

Posted under Librarian Certification, State Aid to Public Libraries

“I am preparing for a Fin Comm meeting in early March. The Town is still working on the FY10 budget and I keep hearing gloom and doom but haven ‘t heard any actual dollar amounts in cuts yet. I expect the library will take some sort of hit and I ‘m trying to think of some small savings and wanted to run an idea by you. For the past three years, the library has been open 40 hours year round…no reduction in hours in the summer. If I were to propose closing on Saturdays during the summer (July and August), am I correct in my thinking that we would still be in compliance with the minimum standard of hours open (40)?”

Yes, you are correct.  Compliance with the minimum standard of hours open is measured from Labor Day to Memorial Day.  Reduction of hours in the summer months does not affect compliance with the hours open requirement in the state aid program.

Posted under Budget Cuts, Librarian Certification, Public Library Statistics Survey--ARIS, State Aid to Public Libraries

In order to insure that communities are served by qualified library personnel, the Board of Library Commissioners grants Certificates of Librarianship to applicants based on work experience, education level or reciprocity with certification in another state, as set forth in statute and regulation, (MGL c.78 s.22-31; 605 CMR 3.01-3.06).  All public library directors in Massachusetts are required to obtain a Certificate of Librarianship as a prerequisite for municipalities to receive State Aid to Public Libraries.

A Professional certificate is granted to applicants with an ALA-accredited graduate degree in library science. A Subprofessional certificate is granted to applicants with the requisite work experience.

Regulations call for certification fee review every three years.  Fees are to be established by a vote of the Board of Library Commissioners.  The Board voted to increase the certification fees to $45.00 and the replacement fee to $30.00 at their meeting on August 7, 2008.  The fees increased on October 1, 2008.

Please keep in mind that certificates are good for life, therefore this increase only applies to those applying for certification for the first time or for replacement certificates.  Please let me know if you have any questions.

Posted under Librarian Certification, State Aid to Public Libraries