(HELENA)-- New Public Library Standards will help Montanans access the library content and services they need. These new benchmarks recognize public libraries as central hubs in Montana communities.

The Public Library Standards define a base level of service that people should receive wherever they are in Montana. To be eligible for state funding, libraries must meet these standards. A task force of librarians with input from the Montana library community crafted these new standards to better capture the role libraries play in their communities.

The services public libraries provide have grown immensely, and the new standards ensure that library users are thriving in today’s information age. With this in mind, the task force directed the State Library staff to write standards that were people centered rather than library centered.

These new standards update the current standards that have been in place for ten years. In many ways, the new standards will have familiar requirements for Montana’s public libraries. The key difference is that the new standards ask library directors and boards to identify community needs and offer services that meet those needs by building community focus into much of what they do.

Another difference is the addition of tribal college libraries in the Public Library Standards. Many of our tribal college libraries provide public library services for their community members. The task force and State Library wanted to recognize that role and included tribal college libraries in the new standards. 

At the recommendation of the Montana State Library staff and the Library Standards Task Force, the State Library Commission voted to adopt this new set of standards at their August 2021 Commission meeting. The standards go into effect July 2022.  

“If you haven’t visited a Montana library recently, you might not recognize them,” said State Librarian, Jennie Stapp. “From checking out mobile wifi hotspots, to providing entrepreneurial resources and so much more, Montana’s libraries are leading our communities into the future.  These new standards create a roadmap that ensure that our libraries continue to adapt to future information needs for the betterment of all Montanans.”

The Montana State Library provides support to libraries across Montana through continuing education opportunities, consulting, and activities for local libraries such as early literacy, financial literacy, and summer reading programs.  The State Library also administers the Montana Library2Go service of e-book and audiobooks to participating libraries, and the Montana Shared Catalog, which allows 177 libraries in Montana to share their collections and resources with each other.

For more information about the Montana State Library, click here.   For more information about the Public Library Standards, click here.