Washington Library receives accreditation

The Washington Free Public Library is now accredited, which means it will get more money from the state. Along with the additional money comes added responsibility and accountability. Library director Debbie Stanton said she was thrilled to learn the library had become accredited. The accreditation is valid for three years at which time it will have to be renewed on June 30, 2015.

The library can expect at least a 30 percent increase and possibly a doubling of the state?s contribution now that the library is accredited. The library most recently received $3,500 from the state. An extra 30 percent of that may not seem like much since the library?s budget is $350,000, but Stanton said every little bit helps. She said that whatever the state contributes is money that doesn?t have to come from Washington taxpayers.

Now that the library is accredited, it must submit reports to the state about its patron count, and it must do a patron survey.

?You have to survey the community to find out what they?re looking for,? Stanton said. ?Last spring, a bunch of people volunteered to staff a table up front, and they counted every person who came in the door, and they collected surveys from people. We?ll probably need volunteers to do the same thing three years from now.?

The library has also gotten together a team of residents who are suggesting long term plans for the library, another requirement of accreditation. Stanton said that the new responsibilities that go along with accreditation are not too burdensome and that, in fact, they provide the library with useful information it needed anyway.

The former library was not accredited in part because it did not meet the state?s standards for handicap accessibility. Stanton said that handicapped people could not reach many of the shelves in the former building. The new library meets those standards, so it was just a matter of filling out the applications and waiting for the state?s approval before the accreditation certificate arrived.

Another thing the library had to do was update all of its policies. Accreditation requires that no library policy can be older than three years.

?Our board worked hard in January to review the old policies that hadn?t changed much,? Stanton said.

Of the state?s 544 libraries, 349 of them are accredited. Stanton said it was time for Washington to be accredited since most libraries in towns this size are. She said Kalona?s and Wellman?s libraries are also accredited.

In a press release issued Tuesday, State Librarian Mary Wegner said, ?The director and board of trustees of the Washington Free Public Library and the city of Washington are to be commended for this achievement and their commitment to excellence in public library services for their community.?