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Nebraska Library Commission outlines five‑year accreditation cycle, funding links and new tech questions
Summary
Nebraska Library Commission staff explained the accreditation process changes, deadlines and program benefits — including state aid and grants that require accreditation — and highlighted new computer‑security questions added to the online application.
Krista Porter, library development director at the Nebraska Library Commission, told workshop attendees the commission restored and retooled its public library accreditation program after pandemic extensions and a 2022 review. "A library's accreditation is good for 5 years now," Porter said, describing the shift from a three‑year to a five‑year cycle and the need to reassign some libraries to new cohorts.
The accreditation application opens July 1 each year. Porter said applicants must submit two items—an online accreditation application and a community needs response plan—by Oct. 1 (extensions available) and that NLC aims to complete reviews by Dec. 31 so renewed accreditations begin Jan. 1. "After I receive both of those items... I look at them together and review them," she said, adding that staff will follow up with questions and provide feedback during a review period.
The NLC uses a points system to assign levels (bronze, silver, gold). Porter said up to 275 points exist in the system but the practical maximum is 250 points for gold; silver is set at 200 and bronze at 175. Accreditation ties to funding: Porter explained the state's public library aid program requires accreditation and that silver and gold levels carry small incentive amounts (an extra $200 for silver and $400 for gold on top of base state aid). She also noted that several NLC grant programs (continuing education/training, internship grants, library improvement grants now funded from state dollars, and youth grants for excellence) require applicant libraries to be accredited, and the Nebraska Department of Economic Development checks accreditation when evaluating community development block grant eligibility.
Porter demonstrated the online form's structure—five sections covering governance & planning, resources, services, cooperation & collaboration, and communications—and said much of the form is prefilled from the national public library survey. Peer comparisons (libraries are compared to peers within ±15% of legal service area population to determine guideline eligibility) are calculated automatically, Porter said.
The commission has added computer security questions as part of the 2022 updates. "We added in some computer security questions into the application," Porter said, listing items applicants should confirm: no end‑of‑life operating systems, monthly security updates, separate staff and public logins, BIOS/hardware protections, reboot/restore software and DNS filtering. She directed technical queries to NLC IT staff.
Porter reminded attendees accreditation is voluntary and that the commission will spot‑check certain claims (for example, published policies and recent social media activity). The session closed with contact instructions for questions and on submitting draft materials for feedback before final application filing.
