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Criteria for Nebraska Library Commission Services

Services


Accreditation, Public Libraries

Available to Public Libraries

To be accredited, libraries are required to:

  • Be legally established under State Statute 51-201
  • Comply with state, federal, and local laws, rules, and regulations that affect libraries and their operations
  • Possess a governing/administrative or advisory board that operates under written by-laws and follows Nebraska’s Open Meetings Law
  • Have a Board certified by the Nebraska Library Commission
  • Have a Director certified at the required level by the Nebraska Library Commission
  • Receive local funding from a recognized Nebraska city, village, township, or county
  • Submit the most recent annual Public Libraries Survey (Bibliostat) and Supplemental Survey
  • Have paid library staff present during all scheduled hours the library is open; staff must be compensated following appropriate statutes
  • Have an email address for the director that is used and checked regularly for library business
  • Make its basic services available without charge to all residents that supply its tax support. These basic services include, but are not limited to, free loan of circulating print and nonprint materials, and general reference and information services
  • Provide access to the Internet at no charge to all users
  • Make an annual report to the governing body of local government and to the public

Additional Information


Board Certification, Public Libraries

Available to Public Libraries

  • For Board members of any Nebraska public library

Additional Information


Cataloging Certificate Program

Available to all types of libraries

  • For Nebraska residents or those who are employed by a Nebraska library

Additional Information


Continuing Education and Training Grants

Available to Public Libraries

To apply for the grant, libraries are required to:

Additional Information


Dollars for Data

Available to unaccredited Public Libraries

To apply, libraries are required to:

  • Be legally established under State Statute 51-201
  • Comply with state, federal, and local laws, rules, and regulations that affect libraries and their operations
  • Possess a governing/administrative or advisory board that operates under written by-laws and follows Nebraska’s Open Meetings Law
  • Submit the most recent annual Public Libraries Survey (Bibliostat) and Supplemental Survey

Additional Information


E-Rate

Available to Public Libraries

To apply for E-Rate, libraries are required to: 

  • Be legally established under State Statute 51-201
  • Possess a governing/administrative or advisory board that operates under written by-laws and follows Nebraska’s Open Meetings Law

Additional Information


Grants: Library Improvement, Internship, and Youth Grants for Excellence

Available to Public Libraries and State Institutional Libraries

State Institutional Libraries - no requirements

To apply for a grant, public libraries are required to:

Additional Information


Interlibrary Loan (ILL) Services

Available to K-12 School Libraries and Public Libraries

To use ILL services, K-12 School Libraries are required to:

  • Have a Board approved ILL-policy for dealing with postage, fees, replacement of lost/damaged items, or anything else that might go wrong
  • Provide all staff names and contact information for those working with ILL

To use ILL services, Public Libraries are required to: 

  • Have a Library Board approved ILL-policy for dealing with postage, fees, replacement of lost/damaged items, or anything else that might go wrong
  • Provide all staff names and contact information for those working with ILL
  • Be legally established under State Statute 51-201
  • Comply with state, federal, and local laws, rules, and regulations that affect libraries and their operations
  • Possess a governing/administrative or advisory board that operated under written by-laws and follows Nebraska’s Open Meetings Law
  • Receive local funding from a recognized Nebraska city, village, township, or county
  • Have an established schedule in which service of the staff are available to the public
  • Have paid library staff present during all scheduled hours the library is open; staff must be compensated following appropriate statutes
  • Provide an organized collection of printed or other library materials, or other combination thereof
  • Have the facilities necessary to support such a collection, staff, and schedule
  • Have an email address for the director that is used and checked regularly for library business
  • Make its basic services available without charge to all residents that supply its tax support. These basic services include, but are not limited to, free loan of circulating print and nonprint materials, and general reference and information services
  • Make an annual report to the governing body of local government and to the public

Additional Information


Movie Public Performance Site License

Available to Public Libraries

To qualify, libraries are required to:

  • Be legally established under State Statute 51-201
  • Comply with state, federal, and local laws, rules, and regulations that affect libraries and their operations
  • Possess a governing/administrative or advisory board that operates under written by-laws and follows Nebraska’s Open Meetings Law
  • Receive local funding from a recognized Nebraska city, village, township, or county
  • Have an established schedule in which service of the staff are available to the public
  • Have paid library staff
  • Provide an organized collection of printed or other library materials, or other combination thereof
  • Have the facilities necessary to support such a collection, staff, and schedule
  • Have an email address for the director that is used and checked regularly for library business
  • Make its basic services available without charge to all residents that supply its tax support. These basic services include, but are not limited to, free loan of circulating print and nonprint materials, and general reference and information services

Additional Information


Nebraska Libraries on the Web

Available to Public Libraries

To participate, libraries are required to:

  • Be open to the public at least 15 hours per week
  • Be legally established under State Statute 51-201
  • Comply with state, federal, and local laws, rules, and regulations that affect libraries and their operations
  • Receive local funding from a recognized Nebraska city, village, township, or county
  • Have an established schedule in which service of the staff are available to the public
  • Have paid library staff
  • Provide an organized collection of printed or other library materials, or other combination thereof
  • Have the facilities necessary to support such a collection, staff, and schedule
  • Have an email address for the director that is used and checked regularly for library business
  • Make its basic services available without charge to all residents that supply its tax support. These basic services include, but are not limited to, free loan of circulating print and nonprint materials, and general reference and information services

Additional Information


Nebraska OverDrive Libraries

Available to Public Libraries

To participate, libraries are required to:

  • Serve a population of 100,000 or fewer
  • Be legally established under State Statute 51-201
  • Comply with state, federal, and local laws, rules, and regulations that affect libraries and their operations
  • Possess a governing/administrative or advisory board that operates under written by-laws and follows Nebraska’s Open Meetings Law
  • Receive local funding from a recognized Nebraska city, village, township, or county
  • Have an established schedule in which service of the staff are available to the public
  • Have paid library staff present during all scheduled hours the library is open; staff must be compensated following appropriate statutes
  • Provide an organized collection of printed or other library materials, or other combination thereof
  • Have the facilities necessary to support such a collection, staff, and schedule
  • Have an email address for the director that is used and checked regularly for library business
  • Make its basic services available without charge to all residents that supply its tax support. These basic services include, but are not limited to, free loan of circulating print and nonprint materials, and general reference and information services
  • Make an annual report to the governing body of local government and to the public

Additional Information


NebraskAccess

Available to all types of libraries

Libraries are required to:

  • Have an email address for the director that is used and checked regularly for library business
  • Provide at least one public access computer at no charge to users

Additional Information


Public Librarian Certification

Available to all types of libraries

  • For Nebraska residents currently or planning to be employed in any Nebraska library

Additional Information


State Aid to Public Libraries

To receive State Aid, libraries are required to:

  • Be Accredited
  • Have an established schedule in which service of the staff are available to the public
  • Provide an organized collection of printed or other library materials, or other combination thereof
  • Have the facilities necessary to support such a collection, staff, and schedule

Additional Information


For more information, contact Information Services Team.