Nassau BOCES School Library System

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Excerpts from NY State Education Law, Rules of the Board of Regents, and Regulations of the Commissioner of Education

Pertaining to Libraries, Systems, Trustees, Librarians
Published by: The University of the State of New York.
The State Education Department Library Development 
Albany, New York 12230

• 274. Use and Care of School Library

The school library shall be a part of the school equipment and shall be kept in the school building at all times. Such library shall be devoted to the exclusive use of the school, except as otherwise provided by the rules of the commissioner of education and except in a district where there is no free library, in which case such school library shall be a circulating library for the use of the residents of the district.

The commissioner of education shall prescribe rules of regulating
1. The purchase, recording, safekeeping and loaning of books in school libraries, and the use of such books by pupils and teachers in the public schools. 
2. The conditions under which books in a school library may be used by the public in a district in which a free library is situated. 
3. The management of school libraries and their use as circulating libraries by the residents of the district in which they are situated. 
4. The contents and submission of reports of school librarians, teachers and other school authorities as to school libraries.

• 275. Librarians of School Libraries

In a school district maintaining an academic department or high school the board of education may employ, and fix the compensation of, a person to act as school librarian who may be engaged for all or a part of the time in performance of the duties of the position as may be directed by the said board. The person so employed, who may be the librarian of the free library, shall be possessed of the qualifications prescribed by the commissioner of education. In all other districts the trustees or board of education may appoint a competent person to act as librarian. In case of a failure of a city or union free school district maintaining an academic department or high school to employ a librarian as above provided, the teacher of English in such school shall be the librarian. In case of a failure to appoint a librarian in any other district, the teacher, or if there be more than one teacher the principal teacher, shall act as librarian. The trustees or board of education shall report to the commissioner of education the name and address of the person employed or appointed as librarian. 

• 276. Existing Rules Continued in Force

All existing provisions of law and rules established by the commissioner of education for the management of public school libraries shall hold good as to the management of such school libraries until altered by or in pursuance of law. 

• 277. Authority to Raise & Receive Money for Library

Each city and school district in the state is hereby authorized to raise moneys by tax in the same manner as other school moneys are raised, or to receive moneys by gift or devise, for starting, extending or caring for the school library. 

• 278. Authority to Transfer Library Property to a Free Library

The board of education in any city or union free school district or the electors of any other district, by legal vote duly approved by the regents, may give to any free library any of the books or other public school library property not required in such school library, provided such free library is registered by the regents and situated in such city or district; and the school authorities or body making the transfer shall thereafter be relieved of all responsibility pertaining to the property so transferred. 

• 279. Fees

A fee of five dollars shall be paid for each public librarian's certificate or school librarian's certificate issued under part two of this article. 

• 280. Penalty for Disobedience to Library Law

The commissioner of education is hereby authorized to withhold its share of public school moneys from any city or district which uses school library moneys for any other purpose than that for which they are provided, or for any willful neglect or disobedience of the law or the rules or orders of said commissioner in the premises. 

• 282. Establishment of School Library Systems

The commissioner is authorized to approve the establishment of school library systems, each system to be composed of school districts which are located within a board of cooperative educational services area, or a school district serving a city with a population of one hundred twenty-five thousand or more, or combinations thereof. The systems may include non-public school libraries as defined in regulations to be promulgated by the commissioner. Upon establishment, such school library systems shall be governed by either their respective boards of cooperative educational services, by boards of education in school districts serving cities with populations of one hundred twenty-five thousand or more, or by a governing body established under the plan to be submitted to the commissioner in cases of systems serving a combination of areas. 

• 283. Functions of School Library Systems

The functions of school library systems shall include but not be limited to: (a) creating and developing a union catalog of materials listing the resources of each participating school library; (b) developing a plan which will aid each participating school library in cooperative collection development; (c) adopting and implementing an interlibrary loan policy and program among participating school libraries; (d) assuring a method of effective delivery of library materials within the system; (e) promoting development programs and continuing education for staff of participating schools; (f) encouraging awareness of the resources and services available in participating school libraries; and (g) cooperating with other library systems in resource sharing and other activities. 

• 284. State Aid [for school library systems]

1. Each school library system established pursuant to section two hundred eighty-two of this article and operating under a plan approved by the commissioner shall be eligible to receive funding under this section consisting of the following amounts:

a. Each school library system with a public and non-public school enrollment of less than one hundred thousand students shall receive a base grant of eighty-three thousand dollars except that in nineteen hundred ninety-one each school library system with a public and non-public school enrollment of less than one hundred thousand students shall receive a base grant of seventy-seven thousand dollars; 

b. Each school library system with a public and non-public school enrollment of one hundred thousand students but less than two hundred thousand students shall receive a base grant of ninety thousand dollars except that in nineteen hundred ninety-one each school library system with a public and nonpublic school enrollment of one hundred thousand students but less than two hundred thousand students shall receive a base grant of eighty-seven thousand dollars; 

c. Each school library system with a public and nonpublic school enrollment of two hundred thousand students but less than five hundred thousand students shall receive a base grant of one hundred twenty-three thousand dollars except that in nineteen hundred ninety-one each school library system with a public and nonpublic school enrollment of two hundred thousand students but less than five hundred thousand students shall receive a base grant of one hundred seventeen thousand dollars; and 

d. Each school library system with a public and nonpublic school enrollment of more than five hundred thousand students shall receive a base grant of eight hundred ninety-seven thousand dollars. 

(1) twenty-nine cents per student enrolled in the participating public and non-public schools comprising such system, except that in nineteen hundred ninety-one such sum shall be twenty-one cents per student enrolled, and except that in nineteen hundred ninety-two such sum shall be twenty-four cents per student enrolled, and

 

(2) five hundred dollars per participating public school district comprising such system, except that in nineteen hundred ninety-one such sum shall be three hundred seventy-five dollars per participating public school district, and except that in nineteen hundred ninety-two such sum shall be four hundred dollars per participating public school district, and in nineteen hundred ninety-one there be a minimum of four thousand three hundred dollars per system located with a board of cooperative educational services area, or five thousand dollars per city school district of a city with a population of one hundred twenty-five thousand inhabitants or more, and that in nineteen hundred ninety-two and thereafter there be a minimum of four thousand five hundred dollars per system located within a board of cooperative educational services area, or five thousand dollars per city school district of a city with a population of one hundred twenty-five thousand inhabitants or more, and

(3) two dollars and forty-five cents per square mile of the school library system, except that in nineteen hundred ninety-one such sum shall be two dollars and twenty cents per square mile and except that in nineteen hundred ninety-two such sum shall be two dollars and thirty cents per square mile.

f. In addition to any other sum provided in this subdivision, any school library system which has merged since January first, nineteen hundred eighty-four shall receive fifty thousand dollars annually. 

g. In addition to any other sum provided in this subdivision, in nineteen hundred ninety-three and thereafter, each school library system shall receive annually an automation grant amounting to ten percent of the total aid produced for that system by adding the base grant provided by paragraph a, b, c or d of this subdivision to the additional aid provided by paragraphs e and f of this subdivision, except that in nineteen hundred ninety-one each school library system shall receive an automation grant amounting to one and six tenths percent of the total aid produced for that system by adding the base grant provided by paragraph a, b, c or d of this subdivision to the additional aid provided by paragraphs e and f of this subdivision, and except that in nineteen ninety-two each school library system shall receive an automation grant amounting to three percent of the total aid. 

3. The moneys made available pursuant to this section shall be distributed to each school library system whose plan of service has been approved under the provisions of subdivision two of this section. 

4. Each school library system receiving state aid pursuant to this section shall furnish such information regarding its library service as the commissioner may from time to time require to determine whether it is operating in accordance with its plan and the standards of service he has established. The commissioner may at any time after affording notice and an opportunity to be heard, revoke approval of a plan of library service if he finds that the school library system no longer conforms to its approved plan, the provisions of this section or the regulations promulgated by the commissioner hereunder; or, in the case of provisional approval, if such school library system no longer conforms to the agreement, plans or conditions upon which such provisional approval was based. In such case a school library system shall not thereafter be entitled to state aid pursuant to this section unless and until its plan of library service is again approved by the commissioner. 

• 90.18 School Library Systems.

a. Definitions.

(1) The term school library system as used means: 

(i) an organization of school districts and nonpublic schools cooperating with a board of cooperative educational services (BOCES) to provide library coordination and/or services to member school library media centers under a school library system plan of service approved by the commissioner; or 
(ii) the city school district of New York City, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse or Yonkers, which has responsibility for the development of public school library media centers in accordance with the standards established in Part 91 of this Title in its individual schools, and which provides library media coordination and/or services to such schools and to nonpublic school library media centers under a school library system plan of service approved by the commissioner. 

(3) Member of a school library system means a school district or nonpublic school enumerated in a school library system plan of service approved by the commissioner. 

(4) Participant in a school library system means a school library media center in a member of a school library system. 

(5) For the purpose of determining eligibility for State aid to a school library system pursuant to section 284 of the Education Law, enrollment means the number of pupils enrolled in the schools of members of a school library system on the first day of October of the base year as defined in section 3602 (1)(b) of the Education Law. 

(6) Certified school library media specialist means a licensed teacher of library in the city school district of the city of New York, a licensed school library media specialist in the city school district of the city of Buffalo, or the holder of a school media specialist (library) certificate, or a predecessor of such certificate, in all other school districts and BOCES. 

(7) Coordinator of a school library system means a certified school library media specialist with a minimum of three years employment as a school library media specialist and possessing a school administrator and supervisor (S.A.S.) certificate in accordance with section 80.4(b) of this Title. 

(b) Governance.
(1) The board of cooperative educational services or the board of education of the city school district shall be the governing board of the school library system. In the case of a school library system serving a combination of BOCES and/or city school districts, one BOCES or city school district shall be designated as the official administrative agency. Each such board shall appoint members to the first school library system council, including non-public school representation, shall act as fiscal agent, and shall submit the plan of service to the commissioner for approval. 

(2) School library system council. 

(i) each school library system shall have a school library system council, which shall meet at least four times a year. Such school library system council shall be composed of at least nine members, and shall include representatives of the members in the school library system and other representatives of providers and users of library services in the school library system. The plan of service shall specify the method of appointment of the school library system council. The school library system council members shall serve three-year terms, provided that first members of each school library system council shall be appointed for terms of from one to three years so that, as nearly as possible, one-third of the members of the council shall thereafter be appointed each year. A vacancy on the school library system council shall be filled by the governing board for the duration of the term of the individual whose seat on the council is to be filled. Members shall serve without compensation. 

(ii) The governing board and the council shall be responsible for development of the plan of service. Upon approval by the council, the governing board shall submit the plan to the commissioner for approval. After approval by the commissioner, it shall be the responsibility of the governing board and the council to monitor the implementation of the plan of service. 

(1) Content. A BOCES or board of education of an eligible city school district or combination of BOCES and/or eligible city school districts seeking funding as a school library system shall submit to the commissioner a plan of service approved by the school library system council in the form prescribed by him or her. The plan shall include, but not be limited to: 

(i) identification of all school districts and nonpublic schools, both members and non-members, and their school library media centers, within the service area of the school library system; 

(ii) statement of the policies and procedures to be used for selection of the school library system council members, indicating how such policies and procedures assure that the council is broadly representative of the providers and users of school library media services; 

(iii) the means to be established for locating and accessing library media materials by all the participants through a machine-readable catalog which will be consistent with standards for regional bibliographic data bases set forth in section 90.19 of this Part; 

(iv) procedures for accepting, verifying and responding to the requests for interlibrary loan, and a description of the delivery system for sharing library media materials; 

(v) identification of the staffing patterns that will support the system, including the advisory services to be available to its members;

(vi) the means by which the school library system will assure compatibility in its computerized and other technical operations with those of other library systems of the State as specified in section 90.19(e) of this Part; 

(vii) identification of special client group needs, and the means for meeting them; 

(viii) the means by which the school library system will assure continuing needs assessment and program development, including staff development needs, and the appropriate activities to meet those needs; 

(ix) the plan for cooperative collection development implementation; 

(x) procedures for promoting awareness of resources and services among system members and participants; 

(xi) procedures for encouraging communication among members and participants regarding effective practices and cooperative projects; 

(xii) procedures for an annual Evaluation by participants of programs and services, for an annual report to members and other appropriate groups on system programs and activities, and a description of how the results of the annual Evaluation will be used to plan future programs and services; 

(xiii) procedures for Evaluating the appropriateness of cooperating with other library systems to provide more effective and efficient delivery of services to the members and participants in both systems; and 

(xiv) a description of the responsibilities of district liaisons and, in city school district systems, of the communication coordinators. 

(2) Criteria for approval.

(i) No plan of service of a school library system shall be approved unless there is evidence that the plan was developed collaboratively with the administrators and school library media specialists of the schools in the area to be served. 

(ii) No plan of service shall be approved unless it provides a method by which members of the school library system are obligated to permit the interlibrary loan of books and materials to other members of the school library system and to members of other systems with which the school library system has reciprocal interlibrary loan agreements, except for materials not loaned within a participating district or school. 

(3) Revision. The plan of service of each school library system shall be effective for a period of five years. Subsequent revisions thereof shall be filed no later than April 30 for implementation in the school year beginning the following July 1. The plan of service shall include a statement that the chief school officer of each member has been made aware of the plan of service and any subsequent revision(s) in writing. Plans and revisions shall be approved by the council, the governing board and the commissioner. 

(e) Functions of the system coordinator. The school library system coordinator will be responsible for the following aspects of the school library system, including, but not limited to: 

(1) creation, updating and maintenance of a union catalog in appropriate format; 
(2) establishment and use of interlibrary loan procedures, including delivery and policy; 
(3) development and implementation of a cooperative collection development plan; 
(4) planning of professional staff development and other continuing education activities; 
(5) ongoing communications with the district liaisons or, in the city school districts, the communications coordinators, with the school library system council, and with other school or community personnel or agencies; 
(6) development of a specialized collection of selection and verification tools for use by system members; 
(7) planning periodic meetings between the school library system council and district liaisons or communications coordinators in the city school districts; 
(8) serving as advisor to member school library media centers and districts on program development and improvement and assisting with development and updating of members' plans developed pursuant to paragraph (f)(4) of this section; 
(9) serving as liaison to appropriate State Education Department offices concerning system and member needs and other matters; 
(10) development of cooperative activities with other school library systems, public library systems and the reference and research library resources system; 
(11) conducting periodic technical assistance visits to members and participants; 
(12) planning and conducting procedures for data gathering and reporting; and 
(13) preparing annually a budget, on forms prescribed by the commissioner, to be approved by the school library system council and governing board, and such budget shall be filed with the department no later than April 30 of each year for approval and release of State aid in the next school year. 

(1) All school districts and nonpublic schools located within a BOCES supervisory district which has established a school library system shall be eligible for membership in such school library system, provided that each such member shall designate a certified school library media specialist as the liaison to the school library system. The liaison shall implement the procedures to be followed in the district, within the general guidelines and procedures determined by the school library system, regarding data collection for union lists, cooperative collection development, other system requirements, intra-district and inter-district loan requests, and necessary reports. The liaison shall keep other school library media specialists and staff of the members informed of school library system policies, procedures, activities, and services. Time to perform liaison duties shall be provided by the member district or nonpublic school. The liaison shall have an outside telephone line, telefacsimile, microcomputer, modem by June 30, 1999 and access to photo duplication facilities. 

(2) In the city school district of the city of New York, each community school district and borough superintendent for high schools, and the division of special education, shall designate a licensed teacher of library as communications coordinator to assist in liaison activities between the school library system staff and the school library media centers in the district. Within school library systems established by the city school districts of Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Yonkers, a certified school library media specialist shall be designated as communications coordinator to the school library system from each zone, representative area, or other internal subdivision of the city school district used for school organization as designated in the plan of service. Nonpublic school members shall designate a representative to serve as communications coordinator between such nonpublic school members and the school library system. 

(3) Each member of a school library system shall permit the interlibrary loan of books and other library materials to other members of the school library system or members of other systems with which the school library system has reciprocal agreements, except for materials not otherwise loaned by such member. 

(4) Member plan. At least once during the five year period of each Plan of Service, each school district and nonpublic school, and in New York City each Community School district and High School District, shall file with the system a plan which shows how district and building library resources and programs meet the needs of students and teachers and describes the ways in which it proposes to make effective use of the system. Such plan shall include: 

(i) a description of existing library resources and services in a format established by the school library system; 

 
(ii) procedures for prompt and efficient communication among school library media specialists and reporting to other members of the school community regarding system policies, procedures and services; 

(iii) provisions for periodic reporting, at least annually, to the governing body of the school district or nonpublic school and to the administration, regarding participation of the member in system services; 

(iv) assurance by the member and its participants that adequate qualified staff is available to organize and administer the library media program and fulfill system responsibilities. 

(5) Each member and each participant shall have a minimum library collection as follows: 

under 200 pupils, 1,000 volumes; 
200-500 pupils, 3,000 volumes; 
501-1,000 pupils, 5,000 volumes; 
over 1,000 pupils, 8,000 volumes. 

Approval may be granted by the commissioner for a variance from the requirements of this paragraph upon receipt of adequate assurance that a plan of acquisitions will eliminate the deficiency. 

(6) Each school library system member shall provide school library system personnel access to the shelf lists of its school library media centers for purposes of creating and maintaining a school library system union catalog. 

(h) Reports. Each school library system shall transmit to the department annually, by September 30th, a report for the year ending the previous June 30th, in such form as shall be prescribed by the commissioner, and such other progress reports as may be required by the commissioner. Such annual report shall include an Evaluation by participants and shall be approved by the department. 

Part 91 - School Libraries

• 91.1 School Libraries.

A school library shall be established and maintained in each school. The library in each elementary and secondary school shall meet the needs of the pupils, and shall provide an adequate complement to the instructional program in the various areas of the curriculum. 

(a) For secondary schools in which the average daily attendance is fewer than 200 pupils: 

(1) the library of a junior high school shall contain at least 1,000 titles; 
(2) the library of a high school shall contain at least 1,000 titles; and 
(3) the library of a junior-senior high school shall contain at least 2,000 titles. 

(b) The library of a secondary school in which the average daily attendance is more than 200 but fewer than 500 pupils shall contain at least 3,000 titles. 

(c) The library of a secondary school in which the average daily attendance is more than 500 but fewer than 1,000 shall contain at least 5,000 titles. 

(d) The library of a secondary school in which the average daily attendance is more than 1,000 pupils shall contain at least 8,000 titles. 

• 91.2 Employment of School Library Media Specialist

Each school district shall employ a certified school library media specialist, unless equivalent service is provided by an alternative arrangement approved by the commissioner, in accordance with the following standards: 

(a) In a secondary school with an enrollment of not more than 100 pupils, a certified school library media specialist should devote at least one school period each day to school library work. 

(b) In a secondary school with an enrollment of more than 100 but not more than 300 pupils, a certified school library media specialist shall devote at least two school periods each day to school library work. 

(c) In a secondary school with an enrollment of more than 300 but not more than 500 pupils, a certified school library media specialist shall devote at least one half of each school day to school library work. 

(d) In a secondary school with an enrollment of more than 500 but not more than 700 pupils, a certified school library media specialist shall devote at least five school periods each day to school library work. 

(e) In a secondary school with an enrollment of more than 700 but less than 1,000 pupils, a certified school library media specialist shall devote the entire school day to school library work. 

(f) One additional full-time assistant certified school library media specialist shall be employed in each secondary school for each additional 1,000 pupils enrolled in such school.