TITLE 590 INDIANA LIBRARY AND HISTORICAL BOARD
Economic Impact Statement
LSA Document #07-756
The Indiana State Library in reaction to the P.R.O.B.E. began the process of updating the administrative rules for public librarian certification. The State Library has and continues to speak publicly about the certification proposal. The rules did not comply with Indiana Code for public and state institutional librarians, nor was the lifetime certification for $1 reasonable or appropriate. Therefore, the State Library sought the opinions of librarians from across Indiana and established a Certification Task Force to revise and propose to the Indiana Library and Historical Board a new set of certification rules. The existing certification rules,
590 IAC 4, will sunset on December 31, 2007. The new rules will become effective 30 days after adoption.
Listed below are the answers to questions related to the economic impact of the proposed administrative rules.
State and Local Fiscal Impact
The proposed rule does have both state and local fiscal impact. A librarian will pay $50 every five years if working for [sic] as a professional public and state institutional librarian. There are nearly 7,000 paid employees within Indiana's public libraries. The State Library estimates there are less than 20 institutional librarians affected by the proposed certification rules. The number of public librarian positions to be covered under the rules is approximately 2,500. In addition to the 2,500 positions requiring certification, the State Library estimates that turnover in positions, new positions, etc., may result in an additional 1,500 individuals requiring certification in each five year period. Therefore, during a five year period, the State Library would expect 4,000 individuals to apply for new, renewed, or upgraded certification.
Based upon the estimates provided above, there would be $200,000 of revenue from certification fees in each five year period, or approximately $40,000 per year. The certification funds will continue to be deposited into the certification dedicated fund. These funds will be expended to cover salary and certification costs. The increased level of activity is expected to require a full-time employee. Additional costs will include the certificate, computer expenses, phone, and other supplies. In 2006, the State Library generated $83 from certification fees, at a cost of approximately $12,000. Should the certification fund not provide sufficient revenues to cover related expenses, the Indiana State Library will attempt to support the deficiency.
At the local level, public libraries and their boards cannot pay for librarian certification; however, they could increase professional librarian salaries by $10 per annum. The impact would be negligible, amounting to less than.005 cents per hour. The public libraries are controlled by locally appointed boards. Another local cost will be the new requirement for continuing education (CE). Library directors will be required to have 100 hours of CE per five years, branch heads and department heads are set at 75 hours, and professional assistants are set for 50 hours. There are numerous ways for the CE hours to be completed, ranging from free classes provided by the State Library, attending annual workshops provided library organizations for a fee, and college and graduate level classes offered by Ivy Tech, IUPUI, and IU in library science. Some of these classes are available online at no cost. Depending upon the path the individual librarian chooses for the CE, there could be an expense, paid by the local public library to support the training and education of the professional librarians under their employ.
What is the State Library doing about certification and why?
Indiana Code 36-12-11-6 – provides certification requirements, and states under section 6, "All library directors, library department or branch heads, and professional assistants, except those who are employed at school libraries or libraries of educational institutions, must hold a certificate under section 7 of this chapter."
Up until December 31, 2007, only Public Library Directors (defined as the head of a library district) are being required by the State Library/Indiana Library and Historical Board to be certified. The law also has required branch heads, department heads, and professional assistants to be certified. The State Library is charging $1 for lifetime certification. The certification program cost about $12,000 in 2006, and had revenues of $83. Implicit in lifetime certification is the absence of any continuing education requirement for Indiana librarian certification. The State Library and Library and Historical Board, which serves as the certification board, have not been in compliance with existing Indiana law.
The proposed rule developed by the Certification taskforce does the following:
Establishes a three-tier certification structure:
Class A - Libraries serving a population of 40,000 or more
Class B - Libraries serving a population between 10,000 to 39,999
Class C - Libraries serving a population of less than 10,000
Certification would be renewed every five years.
Existing library staff would be grandfathered into their present job level at their current library district.
Replace the $1 for lifetime fee with a $50 every five-year certification fee.
Continuing education requirements will be adopted requiring ongoing education to include conferences, workshops, and academic work.
Each of the three professional classifications will have specific continuing education requirements. During each five year certification renewal period, public library director will be required to complete 100 hours of CE, branch head/department head are required to complete 75 hours, and professional assistant are required to complete 50 hours.
Why approve the proposed rule and what benefits are there to approval?
The State Library believes this rule will strengthen the library profession in Indiana, lead to better library service for Indiana's citizens, and help standardize a basic level of current trends and knowledge in Indiana's public libraries. The proposed rule meets two objectives set by the State Library to establish a meaningful and legally compliant certification program.
The new rule requires continuing education, allowing for constant upgrading of the skill set for Indiana's professional librarians. It shortens the time from life to every five years for renewals. It increases the fee to a reasonable level to support, at least in large part, the cost of certification. Indiana's librarians position themselves as information experts and the new certification requirements will help reinforce that view.
By providing a meaningful and legal certification program for Indiana's librarians, state interests will be met because Hoosiers will be better served by their library staff, leading to enhanced quality services.
What impact on other organizations both inside and outside of state government?
Organizations providing training to librarians are expected to have increased business as a result of the need for continuing education. The primary entities directly affected by the continuing education requirement would be the Indiana Library Federation, INCOLSA, Indiana University's Library Science programs at IU and IUPUI, and Ivy Tech's library program.
There may be some limited impact on the Department of Correction related to the dozen or so librarians employed by the Department of Correction. The net effect would be to meet the continuing education requirement and the payment by the individuals of their every-five-year $50 certification fee.
As discussed above, Indiana's public libraries may have a limited impact due to the required CE requirement. Some libraries may be asked to fund the certification fee; however, the State Library has determined this is not a public library expense and should be borne by the individual librarian. Some public libraries may decide to increase salaries to cover the $10 per year cost.
Posted: 03/26/2008 by Legislative Services Agency
DIN: 20080326-IR-590070756EIA
Composed: May 09,2024 1:29:41PM EDT
A
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