SECTIONS 18800-18802 - California Statutes

EDUCATION CODE

SECTION 18800-18802

18800. This chapter shall be known as the Library of California
Act.

18801. (a) The Legislature finds all of the following:
(1) Our economy is information based. Because libraries are
information providers, they have a primary responsibility for the
collection, organization, and dissemination of information supporting
the economic development of California.
(2) Resource sharing, cooperation, and collaboration among all
California libraries of all types creates a whole that is greater
than the sum of its parts. Each library can serve as a gateway to the
resources and services of every other California library.
(3) The state's economic and democratic vitality depends upon the
education of all Californians and their equitable access to
information in an effective, timely fashion. Public and private
partnerships enhance information access and delivery.
(4) Access to information is increasingly technology based.
Technology is vital to the libraries serving Californians. The
sharing of resources and services among libraries is most
cost-effective when appropriate technology is utilized effectively.
(5) Our multicultural and complex society creates needs for
materials, information, and services that go beyond the ability of
any one library or any one type of library to provide.
(6) The academic library is a primary source of curriculum-related
educational and research information for higher education.
(7) The public library is a primary source of information,
enrichment, and lifelong learning for persons of any age, location,
or economic circumstance.
(8) The school library is a primary source of curriculum-related
resources and instructional reading materials in elementary and
secondary schools.
(9) The special library is a primary source of information and
research resources related to its specific mission or the purpose of
its parent organization which may be a corporation, hospital, legal
organization or other institution.
(10) No single library is able to meet all the diverse needs of
all of its primary clientele, including people with disabilities,
non-English-speaking and limited-English-speaking persons, those who
are confined to home or an institution, those who are geographically
isolated, and those who are economically disadvantaged. Highly
specialized information needs often surpass the resources of any
single library in the state.
(11) The effective sharing of resources and services among the
libraries of California requires a structure and an ongoing
commitment by the state to compensate libraries for services provided
to Californians other than their primary clientele.
(b) The Legislature therefore finds and declares the following:
(1) It is in the interest of the people of the state to ensure
that all Californians have free and convenient access to all library
resources and services that could provide essential information and
enrich their lives.
(2) To respond fully and successfully to these information needs
and to the diversity of California's population, libraries of all
types and in all parts of the state must be enabled to interact,
cooperate, and share resources.
(c) (1) It is the intent of the Legislature to provide all
Californians with the opportunity to obtain from a local library all
their needed materials and informational services by facilitating,
and supporting through that library, access to the resources of all
libraries in the state.
(2) It is the intent of the Legislature to accomplish this goal by
enabling libraries of all types and in all parts of the state to
provide their users with the services and resources of all libraries
in this state, and by assisting libraries to provide and improve
service to the underserved.

18802. In adopting this chapter, the Legislature declares that its
policy is as follows:
(a) To reaffirm the principle of local control of the government
or administration, or both, of libraries and to affirm that the
provisions of this chapter apply only to libraries authorized by
their jurisdictions or institutions to apply to participate in the
programs authorized by this chapter.
(b) To enable the users of all libraries, regardless of the
library type, size, or geographic location, to benefit from some or
all of the services authorized by this chapter.
(c) To require that no library, as a condition for receiving funds
or services under this chapter, acquire, provide access to, or
exclude any specific book, periodical, film, recording, data base,
picture, or other material or medium, or acquire, provide access to,
or exclude any classification of books or other material by author,
subject matter, or type.
(d) To encourage adequate funding of libraries from local or other
sources, with state aid under this program to be furnished as a
supplement to, rather than a replacement for, other funds.
(e) To ensure that the necessary technological infrastructure is
provided.
(f) To ensure library service to the underserved of all ages.
(g) To encourage and enable the sharing of resources among
libraries of all types.
(h) To reimburse equitably any participating library for services
it provides to Californians other than its primary clientele.
(i) To assure that no existing library service programs, funded at
the local or state level, are diminished as a result of the resource
sharing authorized by this chapter.