Administration and Supervision

Table 3 gives the legal duties of district, county, and State school officers relating to the administration and supervision of school libraries in 29 States, which are listed in column 1.

Titles of boards and school officials are given in column 2 of table 3 for the various types of districts. It should be noted that in Minnesota the voters of common school districts, when duly assembled, are the administrative body. The general duties of school officials are to formulate and enforce rules for the management and care of libraries, make reports, provide for community use of books when this is permitted by law, administer expenditures of school library funds, purchase library books and in some instances distribute them to schools (column 2, table 3).

County boards of education and the county's chief school officer are generally given responsibility for seeing to it that the specified library duties are performed in counties (see column 3, table 3). In 4 of the States listed-Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia-the county is the unit for school administration. The county library board in South Dakota is composed of the county superintendent, county auditor, State's attorney, superintendent of schools in independent districts, and principals of schools employing more than one teacher (see South Dakota digest, p. 118). The general administrative duties of county school boards and officials are similar to those of district boards and officials (see column 3, table 3).

On the State level, the chief school officer or State board of education is usually responsible for the State administrative duties relating to school libraries. The State library agency is named in 2 States-New Jersey and Oregon-and in another State-Arkansas-it cooperates with the Board of Education and commissioner of education in formulating rules for the administration of school libraries (column 4, table 3). The general duties performed by these boards and officials are: Requiring statistical data from district and county officials; making rules for the management and control of school libraries; prescribing library standards; and administering expenditures of funds for libraries. In 1 State-Tennessee-the law provides that the State Department of Education is authorized to supervise and develop libraries in public schools through its library division (see column 4, table 3).

Books Their Selection, Care, and Use

Laws expressly providing for the selection, care, and use of school library books are found in 41 States. Provisions for these States are summarized in table 4.

In the matter of the selection of books, the table shows that the laws not only designate the agency or official responsible for the approval, but also specify definitely what types of books are to be excluded. Approval is vested for the most part in the State board of education or the State chief school officer, 21 of the 41 States having laws to this effect. The State library agency is responsible in 5 States, but in 1 of the 5 States-Indiana-the library agency is under the administrative control of the State's chief school officer. In 1 State-Michigan-the State educational and library agencies share the responsibility for approval of books. Local authorities are given the power to approve books in only 6 instances (see columns 2, 3, and 4 of table 4).

The types of books that are excluded by law are indicated in columns 9, 10, and 11 of table 4. Immoral or obscene books are the types barred in most cases-18 of the 41 States having laws to this effect. Sectarian books are named in 9 States and partisan in 4 as reasons for exclusion.

Laws relating to the care of school library books contain provisions about the place where they shall be housed, about supplying bookcases, and about the detention and mutilation of books. The laws in 11 States require that they shall be housed in the schoolhouse, and in 5 that cases shall be provided. The detention of books is forbidden in 9 States and their mutilation in 12 States; in both instances these laws expressly apply to school libraries or to libraries in "educational institutions." The laws of 8 States provide that school library books may be used by the residents of the district (column 12, table 4). The 18 footnotes to table 4 indicate that there is little uniformity in the legal provisions.