43.05 General duties of the division. The division shall:

(1) Coordinate and conduct continuing education programs for librarians of school library media programs, public libraries, public library systems and institutional library programs.

(2) As it deems appropriate, assist libraries in the identification and recruitment of qualified personnel.

(3) Provide professional and technical advisory, consulting and informational services to assist:

(a) School districts establishing, maintaining or expanding school library media programs and facilities;

(b) Public libraries, municipalities establishing, maintaining or expanding public libraries, counties establishing, maintaining or expanding public library services, public library systems and their governing bodies;

(c) State agencies and officers; and

(d) Institutional library programs.

(4) Collect library statistics and conduct studies and surveys of library needs throughout the state and report and publish the findings. The research shall be coordinated with statewide library planning.

(5) Designate a librarian to serve as a coordinator of activities for state document depository libraries under ss. 35.81 to 35.835 and to fulfill its responsibilities under ss. 35.81 to 35.835.

(6) Recommend and distribute standards for school library programs and facilities to school library media programs, standards for public libraries to public library governing bodies and standards for institutional library programs to governing bodies and administrators of institutional library programs and to heads of departments, as defined under s. 15.01 (8), which administer institutional libraries.

(7) Establish standards for public library systems under s. 43.09 (2).

(8) Establish standards for and issue certificates to public librarians under s. 43.09 (1).

(9) Approve the establishment of public library systems under s. 43.13.

(10) Administer aids to public library systems under s. 43.24.

(11) Maintain a resources for libraries and lifelong learning service to supplement the collections of all types of libraries in this state by providing specialized materials not appropriately held and information sources not provided by local libraries or readily available from other area or state-level resource providers. The service shall provide specialized library and information services to state agency libraries and state employees, institution libraries, public library systems, public libraries, school libraries, and other types of libraries according to policies developed by the division. Library and information services may include development of collections of specialized materials, interlibrary loan services, reference services, provision of database search services, and maintenance of a statewide database of library materials. The service may contract with state agencies and libraries to provide library material cataloging and processing services.

(12) Assist the council on library and network development in the preparation of the descriptive and statistical report to be prepared by the council under s. 43.07 (5).

(13) Carry out such other programs and policies as directed by the state superintendent.

(14)

(a) In this subsection, “participating municipality" has the meaning given in s. 43.18 (1) (ag).

(b) Conduct a review of a public library system if at least 30 percent of the libraries in participating municipalities that include at least 30 percent of the population of all participating municipalities state in the report under s. 43.58 (6) (c) that the public library system did not adequately meet the needs of the library. If the division determines that the public library system did not adequately meet the needs of libraries participating in the system, it shall prepare an advisory plan suggesting how the public library system can so do in the future, including suggestions designed to foster intrasystem communications and local dispute resolution. The advisory plan shall be distributed to the public library system board, the boards of all libraries participating in the system and the county boards of all counties participating in the system.

History: 1979 c. 347; 1983 a. 189 s. 329 (27); 1985 a. 29, 177, 332; 1991 a. 285; 1995 a. 27; 1997 a. 27, 150; 1999 a. 83, 185; 2011 a. 158.