CLINTON ESSEX FRANKLIN LIBRARY SYSTEM
COMMISSIONER’S REGULATION 90.3
DIRECT ACCESS REQUIREMENTS
COMPLIANCE PLAN
Introduction:
Early in 1999 the Commissioner of Education made some changes to Section 90.3
of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education. Each of the State’s 23 public
library systems has been asked to prepare a compliance plan and secure approval from its
member libraries for it. The plan is intended to describe how citizens are eligible for
library service and to insure that each citizen resident in Clinton, Essex, or Franklin
Counties can receive free public library service, whether or not they live in the chartered
service area of a local public library.
Purpose of this plan:
The Commissioner’s Regulation requires that all residents be able to make on-site
use of all library resources, borrow materials, and attend programs in all public libraries
within the boundaries of the Library System. It also requires that all libraries which are
members of the Library System honor all library cards issued by any member library or
by the Library System. The intent of these two requirements is to insure access to
information resources on the part of every resident of Clinton, Essex, or Franklin
Counties, whether they live in an area served by a local library or not.
Further, the Regulation provides:
 That library cards be issued at no cost to the borrower.
 That no individual be excluded from access to library service and
materials because of age, cultural, economic, or civic status.
 That certain exemptions may be granted to some of the requirements,
subject to certain approvals.
When working with this plan it helps to keep in mind the intent of the Regulation:
That free and universal access to library service be available to all New Yorkers.
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THE COMPLIANCE PLAN FOR CEFLS:
1. How residents of Clinton, Essex, and Franklin Counties will receive library
service:
A. Residents of the Library System’s service area (Clinton, Essex, and Franklin
Counties) who live, work, go to school, or pay real property taxes within a local
library’s chartered service area are eligible for a library card from that library.
B. Each member library will honor the library cards of all other member libraries
(reciprocal borrowing). Service and access to materials will be on the same basis
as for local card holders.
C. Library cards and library service are free. Fees may not be charged for the card or
for library services, for membership in the library association or corporation as a
condition of receiving a card, or for reregistration from the home library to the
reciprocating library.
D. Residents of Clinton, Essex, and Franklin County, including those living in any
unserved areas, are eligible for library cards on the CEFLS bookmobile or at the
Central Library (Plattsburgh Public Library). These cards will be honored by
local libraries on the same basis as the library cards from other member libraries.
E. CEFLS will continue to operate a Bookmobile with an emphasis on stops in
unserved and underserved areas and to populations included in the State’s
definition of outreach services, as is done presently.
F. CEFLS will continue to develop content and delivery of electronic resources to
member libraries and to residents in their homes as part of the effort to overcome
the barriers of geography and financial resources characteristic of its service area.
G. CEFLS will work systematically to upgrade the skills of non-MLS library staff in
order to strengthen service delivery.
H. Opportunities to revise chartered service areas of existing libraries and to
establish new libraries and/or reading centers will be identified and pursued.
2. Service to residents of non-member and withdrawn libraries:
There are no such libraries or individuals in the service area at this time. Should
there be, residents of those areas will receive service on the same basis as outlined in D,
E, and F above.
3. Exemptions for serious inequities and hardships:
A serious inequity or hardship arises when a library is unable to serve its
chartered population because of impacts on the library’s collections and/or services from
non-resident users.
Libraries may vary from the 90.3 requirement of universal service if non-resident use
exceeds one-third of :
a. the circulation of nonprint materials and equipment, and printed materials less
than one year old, including fiction and nonfiction books and periodicals; any
restricted materials to have been purchased exclusively from local funds.
b. the attendance at library programs. If attendance must be limited, local
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residents may be given first access to them. Such programs must be supported
entirely from local funds.
4. Excessive out of chartered service area borrowing:
See above.
5. Unserved and underserved populations in the service area:
a. unserved and underserved populations:
1. The State GIS system provides the most complete listing of unserved areas. A
copy of the map is attached. Notable unserved areas include:
Clinton County
Saranac
Clinton
Schuyler Falls
Beekmantown
Essex County
Newcomb
Minerva
North Hudson
Lewis
Franklin County
Dickinson
Moira
Bombay
2. The following libraries do not meet the minimum State standards for public
libraries at this time (1/1/2000) and therefore have populations which are
underserved:
Ausable Forks Free Library
Champlain Memorial Library
Chateaugay Memorial Library
Chazy Public Library
Hammond Library, Crown Point
Munsil Free Library, Ellenburg Depot
Belden Noble Memorial Library, Essex
Keene Public Library
Sherman Free Library, Port Henry
Schroon Lake Public Library
Wadhams Free Library
Westport Library Association
3. the following libraries do not have graphical Internet connections for public
and staff use and therefore have populations which are underserved:
Chazy Public Library
Hammond Library, Crown Point
Ellenburg Sarah A. Munsil Free Library, Ellenburg Depot
Belden Noble Memorial Library, Essex
Keeseville Free Library
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Lake Placid Public Library
Sherman Free Library, Port Henry
Schroon Lake Public Library
Dodge Memorial Library, Rouses Point
Goff-Nelson Memorial Library, Tupper Lake
Wells Memorial Library, Upper Jay
Dodge Library, West Chazy
4. the following libraries do not have a Director holding a New York State
Professional Librarian’s Certificate or the Director and at least one Trustee having
completed CEFLS’ library service course and therefore have populations which
are underserved:
[all but Akwesasne, Keene Valley, Malone, Plattsburgh, Saranac Lake,
Westport]
The library service course is not extant at this time. It will be
modelled after others offered by Finger Lakes Library System and the Four
County Library System. It will be planned in 2000 and offered in 2001. We
probably will attempt to provide a cash incentive to libraries meeting this
requirement as well as our usual travel and time subsidies for attendance. By then
we may also be able to experiment with distance learning for portions of it.
b. Criteria used to identify libraries with inadequate levels of local income
Libraries which do not meet current state standards, which lack a graphical level
Internet connection for staff and public use, and which do not have either MLS or
CEFLS-trained staff and Trustees as specified elsewhere are considered as
having inadequate levels of local income.
c. Actions the System will take to expand the availability of library services to unand under-served individuals:
1. Clarify/strengthen language in member library contracts so that:
 Resident borrower eligibility is explicitly expanded from “live” to
“live, work go to school, or own real property” in the chartered service
area
 Explicitly recognize library cards issued by the Bookmobile as valid
for universal access to Member Libraries (all residents of the service
area already are eligible for cards at the Bookmobile)
 Expand the contract language with the Central Library to explicitly
recognize the Central Library’s responsibility to issue library cards to
all residents of the CEFLS service area
 Add universal access and reciprocal borrowing language to the
Reading Center contracts
2. Maintain bookmobile service to unserved and underserved areas, as well as to
outreach populations for whom mobility is difficult.
3. Develop a web page first for the member libraries, later to be expanded to
home/office access, which presents the CEFLS and other catalogs and links to
data bases, other web sites, etc. Train library staff in its use as a reference and
information tool for their communities.
4. Establish a graphical web connection for staff and public use in those libraries
which do not already have one.
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5. Prepare and offer a training course to strengthen library service delivery skills
of non-librarian library staff (all but 6 of our libraries).
6. Review the service area with an eye to locations where establishing a reading
center or library would be feasible and work with communities to that end.
7. Upon receipt of the Regents Commission recommendations, work to revise
chartered service areas as appropriate.
d. Timetable for actions to strengthen service:
1. Bookmobile and Central Library service are currently available.
2. Member Library contract language will be strengthened with the 2000
contract.
3. A CEFLS Web page with links to library resources, along with training in its
use, will debut in 2000. It will include home pages for all libraries not currently
having them, the CEFLS catalog, interest group chat rooms, and links to selected
Web resources by subject for the use of Member Library staff and patrons. We
would hope to have home access to appropriate areas of this page by 2002.
4. About half the member libraries have an Internet connection of some type at
this time. The timetable for 100% Internet access in the libraries is hard to
predict, as the speed of our extending service will depend in part on our success in
securing Gates Grant computers and additional state funding to defray
telecommunications costs.
5. The library service training course will be planned in 2000 and offered in
2001.
6. The review of need for additional libraries and/or reading centers is
continuous.
7. Work on charter revisions will commence following
receipt of the Regents Commission recommendations.
e. Identification of responsible individuals:
The Director of the Clinton Essex Franklin Library System, working at the
direction of the Board of Trustees and with the System staff, will implement this
plan.
6. Modifications to the free direct access plan:
a. Without prior approval of the Commissioner of Education:
Upon notification to the Library System a member library may establish a variance
from this 90.3 compliance policy for any one of the following three circumstances.
The varying library must devise an appropriate mechanism for measuring the
claimed impact and secure the agreement of the Library System that the
circumstance is met.
1. May refuse to lend materials to residents of a jurisdiction with a population of
10,000 or more which does not have a public library.
2. May restrict non-resident borrowing of new materials less than one year old
and purchased with local funds if circulation of such materials to non-residents
exceeds one-third of the total circulation of such materials.
3. May restrict attendance of non-residents at library programs by offering
registration to residents and then offering any remaining places to non-residents.
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b. With the prior approval of the Commissioner of Education:
Libraries wishing relief from hardships caused by the Direct Access regulation
may apply for it in accordance with 90.3(d)(3) of the regulation. These requests,
along with their documentation, will be evaluated on an individual basis, following
the process outlined in the regulation. We expect a low volume of such requests
and therefore regard a case-by-case basis as appropriate.
7. How will the System assure compliance?
90.3 requirements will be presented and publicized in memoranda to libraries, in the
System’s newsletter, and at the annual President’s Council held for trustees and staff
of local libraries.
Compliance will be monitored through Library System consultant visits/phone
calls to libraries, attention to complaints from members of the public around
reciprocity issues, and as part of the System’s periodic surveys of its members.
8. How the System obtained member library input for this plan?
1. The Clinton Essex Franklin Director’s Association (CEFDA) was consulted and
their suggestions incorporated.
2. The Member Libraries all received a covering letter with this year’s member
library contracts pointing out the significance of current contract language on
direct access and saying that the State is strengthening the direct access
regulation. Questions and comments were invited and none so far have been
received.
3. The draft plan will be circulated for Member Library comment and review.
4. Upon State approval of a plan a copy of the final plan and a ballot will be
distributed to Member Libraries.
Mab 11/30/99
Approved by New York State Department of Education June 8, 2000.
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