In accordance with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Minimum Standards for Public Library Service (Mass. General Laws, Ch.78, Sec.19B §§1-6), the Springfield City Library extends borrowing privileges to all residents of the Commonwealth who reside in communities whose libraries have been certified by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners as meeting these minimum standards.
Accordingly, residents of communities whose libraries do not meet the minimum standards defined by the above regulations and are denied certification by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners will not be granted borrowing privileges at any Springfield City Library.
Residents of communities with libraries that are not certified by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners may elect to pay a User Fee of $35 annually to maintain borrowing privileges at the Springfield City Library.
This policy is based on the understanding that true reciprocity is possible only when each community provides adequate funding to maintain minimum service levels at its library. If one community fails to adequately support its library the reciprocal relationship is invalidated as one community assumes the service responsibility for another.
Borrowing privileges will be denied immediately upon notification from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners that a community’s library is uncertified or has been decertified.
Borrowing privileges will be reinstated immediately upon notification from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners that a town/city library has been re-certified.
MBLC: Non-Certified Municipalities and Libraries
Approved by Springfield City Library Commission May 18, 2005