And first, regarding the aims of a library law:
(a) We reiterate our statement of last year that the library is an educational institution and that education is a matter of state rather than of local concern. If a state already has a good library law which has worked and is working well and satisfactorily to all concerned, local libraries should be left in operation under the provisions of the law, precisely as the schools should be and generally are left, no matter what changes in the form of municipal government are contemplated or have been carried into effect. If the state law is not entirely satisfactory, it is better to amend it than to try to better matters through the local charter. The charter may well contain, to avoid the possibility of conflict, some such special disclaimer as the following: "Nothing in this charter shall be so construed as to interfere with the operation of the public library under the library laws of the state." If the library law contains provisions seemingly in conflict with new charter provisions, some additional definition may be necessary.
(b) Possibly we are not yet ready for compulsory library establishment throughout a state, but at all events it should be made simple and easy for any public taxing or governing body to establish a free public library and to tax itself for the support of that library, accepting gifts where necessary and obligating itself to fulfill the conditions under which these gifts are made. This would include municipalities, counties, townships, school districts, boards of education, etc.
The library should be assured of reasonable and sufficient financial support, either through the operation of a special-tax provision or by the requirement of a minimum appropriation by the authorities. In no case should the existence or value of the library be placed in jeopardy by making possible a capricious withdrawal or lessening of support by the local authorities.
(c) The library should be administered by an independent board of trustees, not by a single commissioner, and, in particular, not by a commissioner who has other matters on his hands. In case such grouping appears necessary, the library should be placed with other educational agencies and in no case treated as a group of buildings or a mere agency of recreation. The board should be a body corporate, distinct from other municipal organizations and departments, with powers of succession, power to sue and be sued, to acquire and hold property, etc. The terms of its members should not expire all at once, so that reasonable continuity in policy will be insured. It should have power to take over and manage other city libraries, school libraries and, by contract, libraries in other municipalities or communities.
(d) The funds of the library, including those derived from taxation, bequest, gift, and library fines and desk receipts, should be at the board's free disposal for library purposes, including the purchase of land and the erection of buildings. They should be received and held by the municipal authorities, and disbursed on voucher, with the same safeguards and under the same auspices as those required for other public funds.
(e) The library should be operated on the merit system, in the same way that the schools are so operated—not by placing the selection and promotion of library employees in the hands of the same board that selects clerks and mechanics for the city departments, but by requiring that the library board establish and carry out an efficient system of service satisfactory to the proper authorities.
The board should have entire control of its own working force and should initiate its own policies, including selection of sites and planning of buildings, its librarian being regarded both as its executive officer and as its expert adviser, to whom the choice of methods and the management of details are naturally left. He should be present at meetings of the board and may serve as its secretary.
We regard as satisfactory any body of law that will accomplish the results aimed at in the following sections, which your committee does not regard as couched in legal phraseology. Before being used in any state its provisions should be worded by a competent person experienced in drafting bills for the legislature of that state.