Alabama Administrative Code
Title 520 - ALABAMA PUBLIC LIBRARY SERVICE
Chapter 520-2-1 - FEDERAL PUBLIC LIBRARY PROGRAMS FY2012
Section 520-2-1-.01 - Library Services And Technology Act (LSTA) State-Administered Program

1. Enhance coordination among Federal programs that relate to library and information services;

2. Promote continuous improvement in library services in all types of libraries in order to better serve the people of the United States;

3. Facilitate access to resources in all types of libraries for the purpose of cultivating an educated and informed citizenry;

4. Encourage resource sharing among all types of libraries for the purpose of achieving economical and efficient delivery of library services to the public;

5. Promote literacy, education, and lifelong learning and to enhance and expand the services and resources provided by libraries, including those services and resources relating to workforce development, 21st century skills, and digital literacy skills;

6. Enhance the skills of the current library workforce and to recruit future professionals to the field of library and information services;

7. Ensure the preservation of knowledge and library collections in all formats and to enable libraries to serve their communities during disasters;

8. Enhance the role of libraries within the information infrastructure of the United States in order to support research, education, and innovation; and

9. Promote library services that provide users with access to information through national, state, local, regional, and international collaborations and networks.

1. APLS Executive Board.

2. State Advisory Council on Libraries (LSTA Advisory Council).

3. U.S. National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities, Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).

4. APLS staff, individual librarians, trustees, users, and other library consumer organizations.

1. Notice of the intent to adopt or revise rules and regulations is announced to the library community through regular APLS communication channels.

2. Draft rules and regulations are presented for formal review to the LSTA Advisory Council and to the APLS Executive Board.

3. Draft rules and regulations, including priorities for funding established by the APLS Executive Board, are submitted to the Administrative Procedures Division of the Legislative Reference Service.

4. The Administrative Procedures Division announces the proposed rules changes in the Administrative Monthly. During the 35-day period following publication of the announcement, the public may submit written comments about the proposed changes. In addition, oral and/or written comments may be made at a public hearing held during the 35-day period at a date specified in the announcement.

5. The APLS Executive Board will provide final approval of rules and regulations.

1. Rules and regulations adopted by the APLS Executive Board are published through regular APLS communication channels.

2. Copies of rules and regulations are furnished to the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies (COSLA) Clearinghouse for dissemination to the library profession.

3. Notice of the publication of rules and regulations is sent to media through regular APLS communication channels.

1. The applicant prepares and submits a formal application, with the help of APLS staff if needed. The proposals are reviewed by APLS staff and evaluated by the LSTA Advisory Council based on established criteria. LSTA Advisory Council recommendations are sent to the APLS Executive Board, which makes the awards.

2. The liaison staff may conduct formal on-site reviews of the projects for evaluation purposes. Their reports will indicate the progress of the project in terms of meeting the library needs stated in the original proposal. Copies of the reports are on file at APLS.

1. Library service means the performance of all activities of a library relating to the collection and organization of library materials and to making the materials and information of a library available to the public.

2. Research library means a library that makes publicly available library services and materials suitable for scholarly research and not otherwise available to the public.

3. Academic library means a library that is an integral part of an institution of higher education.

4. Public elementary school or secondary school library means a library that is an integral part of a public elementary school or secondary school.

5. Public library is a restricted term which means only 1) a library established under the Code of Alabama 1975, sections 11-90-(1-4), and open for regular public service, as determined by APLS, and 2) the one library which has been established as a library district under Legislative Act 88-258, as amended by Legislative Act 2000-358 (the North Shelby County Library). Such libraries have the following common characteristics: they are general purpose, broad-based libraries which serve the educational, informational, and recreational needs of persons of all ages in a community, with collections consisting of materials in many subject areas (both fiction and nonfiction) and in a variety of formats in an effort to meet the library needs of all of the residents. They provide such services free of charge to all residents within their legal service areas, such as a town, city, county, or district, and they receive their financial support in whole or in part from public funds. They are operated by a single legally established policy-making board of trustees. Such libraries may or may not have branch library agencies.

6. Special library means a library which (a) has been established to serve primarily a limited clientele or a clientele with special information needs, with a collection specializing in one subject or a very limited number of related subjects; and (b) is not an integral part of an institution of higher education. A special library may receive its support privately or in whole or in part from public funds. A special library is not a public library (as defined above).

7. Public library system means an organization which is composed of two or more legally established autonomous public libraries eligible to receive state aid. A public library system is characterized by multiple policy-making library boards operating within a framework of written contracts.

8. Interlibrary cooperation means the systematic and effective coordination among public libraries, public elementary school libraries, public secondary school libraries, academic libraries, and research libraries for resource sharing and other programs.

9. Technology enhancement means the acquisition, installation, maintenance, or replacement, of technological equipment (including library bibliographic technological equipment) necessary to provide access to information in electronic and other formats made possible by new information and communications technologies.

10. Grantee means an organization which has received a grant contract from APLS.

1. Only those public libraries and public library systems eligible to receive state aid in accordance with the Alabama Administrative Code, Chapter 520-2-2, may apply for grants, providing that all state aid required documents of the applicant library are on file at APLS and providing that the applicant also meets any additional stipulations of the grant category for which the applicant is applying.

2. Any state-funded department that provides library services to institutionalized persons. The following conditions apply:

1. A grantee may be considered "high-risk" if an awarding agency determines that a grantee:

2. If APLS determines that an award will be made, special conditions and/or restrictions shall be included in the award. Special restrictions may include:

3. If an awarding agency decides to impose such conditions, the awarding official will notify the grantee as early as possible, in writing, of:

1. If a grantee fails to comply with any term of an award, whether stated in a federal statute or regulation, an assurance, in a state plan or application, a notice of award, or elsewhere, the awarding agency may take one or more of the following actions, as appropriate in the circumstances: