SC Public Library Standards

South Carolina state law guides the delivery of library services through the counties under the terms of Title 4: Counties, Chapter 9: County Government. One can read the public library related requirements at http://bit.ly/18xbBf1.  The operation of public libraries is a responsibility of County government.

One way to judge how well a County is meeting its responsibility is to compare its public library facilities, financial support, and services with public library facilities, financial support and services of other counties in the state, particularly those with similar population size.  The South Carolina Public Library Standards, 2012, approved by the South Carolina State Library Board help benchmark what is expected.

The 2012 standards are the second set of public library standards developed under the auspices of the South Carolina State Library. The first were in 1998. Prior to 1998, standards for South Carolina public libraries were developed by the Public Library Section of the South Carolina Library Association and were subsequently adopted by the South Carolina State Library Board. Earlier editions were published in 1955, 1964, 1969, 1975, 1981, and 1986.

To see the 2012 document, http://www.statelibrary.sc.gov/docs/lds/201304_lds_standards_for_sc_libraries_2012.pdf.

For those who love to get the down-and-dirty, read the Annual Library Statistics for data over the past decade about the Beaufort County Library and the other library systems in our state.