Public Libraries Survey

Select one of the following:

HQ – Headquarters of a Federation or Cooperative. The library entity that provides the physical space and staff who manage, coordinate, or administer the programs of the federation or cooperative.

Note: Agencies that serve other libraries rather than the public will not be reported to FSCS.

ME – Member of a Federation or Cooperative. An autonomous library joined by formal or informal agreements(s) with (a) other autonomous libraries in the same state to perform various services cooperatively, such as resource sharing, communications, etc., and (b) libraries that are part of national, multi-state or statewide library federations or cooperatives. (Do not include OCLC). Do not include multiple outlet administrative entities (e.g. libraries with branches, and that have the word 'system' in their legal name) if the entity does not have an agreement with another autonomous library.

The legal basis is the type of local government structure within which the entity functions. It reflects the state or local law, which authorizes the library.

Select one of the following:

CI – Municipal Government (city, town, or village). A municipal government is an organized local government authorized in a state's constitution and statues and established to provide general government for a specific concentration of population in a defined area.

CO – County/Parish. An organized local government authorized in a state's constitution and statutes and established to provide general government.

NP – Nonprofit Association or Agency. An entity privately controlled but meeting the statutory definition of a public library in a given state; includes association libraries and libraries with 501c designation.

This code identifies an autonomous library entity (Administrative entity) that has its own governance and funding.

An administrative entity is the agency that is legally established under local or state law to provide public library service to the population of a local jurisdiction. The administrative entity may have a single outlet, or it may have more than one outlet.

Select one of the following:

MA – Administrative Entity with Multiple Direct Service Outlets where Administrative Offices are separate. An administrative entity that serves the public directly with two or more service outlets, including some combination of one central library, branch(es), bookmobile(s), and/or books-by-mail only. The administrative offices are separate from the direct service outlets and do not provide direct library services.

MO – Administrative Entity with Multiple Direct Service Outlets where Administrative Offices are Not Separate. An administrative entity that serves the public directly with two or more service outlets, including some combination of one central library, branch(es), bookmobile(s), and/or books-by-mail only.

Answer (Y)es or (N)o to the following question: 'Does this public library meet all the criteria of the FSCS public library definition?'

A public library is an entity that is established under state enabling laws or regulations 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.

areas served under contract for which the library is the primary service provider. The Geographic Code should represent the basis for the Population of Legal Service Area (data element #208), including areas served under contract, and as such should be determined by the state library agency.

Each geography type has at least two subtypes: “entirety” and “overlap.” If the LSA is not coterminous with one of the geography types, select the “overlap” option for the geography type that most overlaps the LSA. For “County or Equivalent” and “Multi-County” geographies, a third subtype, “remainder excluding AEs of contained geographies,” exists specifically for AEs that serve the areas of counties outside of municipalities with separate AEs.

Note: For further clarification, see the definition of terms published by the U.S. Census Bureau: https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/geography/about/glossary.html

PL1 - Place (e.g., incorporated city or village, census- designated), entirety
PL2 - Place (e.g., incorporated city or village, census- designated), overlap

MP1 - Multi-Place, entirety
MP2 - Multi-Place, overlap

CD1 - Minor Civil Division [MCD] (e.g., town, township), entirety
CD2 - Minor Civil Division [MCD] (e.g., town, township), overlap

MD1 - Multi-MCD, entirety
MD2 - Multi-MCD, overlap

CO1 - County or Equivalent, entirety
CO2 - County or Equivalent, overlap
CO3 - County or Equivalent, remainder excluding AEs of contained geographies

MC1 - Multi-County, entirety
MC2 - Multi-County, overlap
MC3 - Multi-County, remainder excluding AEs of contained geographies

SU1 - School District - Unified, entirety
SU2 - School District - Unified, overlap

SE1 - School District - Elementary, entirety
SE2 - School District - Elementary, overlap

SS1 - School District - Secondary, entirety
SS2 - School District - Secondary, overlap

OTH - Other

Answer (Y)es or (N)o to the following question: 'Did the administrative entity's legal service area boundaries change since last year?'

Note: Changes are likely to result, for example, when a municipality annexes land, when one municipality in a county becomes either an independent city or its own county necessitating its exclusion from the first county's geography, or when and administrative entity contracts to provide public library service for some additional geographic area other than the geographic area for which it was established (e.g., a municipal library contracts to serve county residents).

A branch library is an auxiliary unit of an administrative entity which has at least all of the following:

1. Separate quarters;
2. An organized collection of library materials;
3. Paid staff; and
4. Regularly scheduled hours for being open to the public.

A bookmobile is a traveling branch library. It consists of at least the following:

1. A truck or van that carries an organized collection of library materials;
2. Paid Staff; and
3. Regularly scheduled hours for being open to the public.

There are no 'other vehicle' categories. If you have a mobile maker space or outreach van for which you can count the number of hours it was open to the public and was staffed by a paid library employee, please count it as a bookmobile. If you have questions, please consult with the state data coordinator.