18810
EDUCATION CODE
SECTION 18810
18810. As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise indicates or unless specific exception is made, the following definitions apply: (a) "Academic library" means a library established and maintained by a college or university or other postsecondary institution to meet the educational needs of its students, faculty, staff, and others by agreement. (b) "Act" means the Library of California Act. (c) "Direct loan" means the lending of a book or other item, or furnishing a copy directly to a borrower, in person or through electronic means. (d) "Document delivery" means the transmission, in response to a request, of information from one library to another, in either a physical or digital format. (e) "Electronic direct access" means the provision of electronic borrowing, or electronic document delivery services directly to library users, or both. (f) "Information agencies" means institutions that provide or preserve, or both, information resources, such as archives, historical societies, libraries, and museums. (g) "Institution" means a business or corporation, college, correctional facility, education agency, governmental agency, hospital, not-for-profit organization, professional association, school district, or other organized group that is authorized by law and that operates one or more libraries. These libraries would be academic, school, or special libraries located in California. For the purposes of this act, if an institution is a member of a regional library network and a library of that institution decides to participate in a regional library network and meets the eligibility standards, but is located within the geographic boundaries of a network that is different from the network within which the institution is located, that library shall be a participating library in the regional network within which it is located. (h) "Interlibrary loan" means the lending or providing of a book or other item, or furnishing a copy, from one library to another library that is under a different jurisdictional or institutional administration as the result of a request for the item from its primary clientele. (i) "Interlibrary reference" means the providing of information by one library or reference center to another library or reference center that is under a different jurisdictional or institutional administration as the result of a request from its primary clientele for information that is beyond that library's mission and resources. (j) "Library user" means a Californian who is part of the primary clientele of a library but does not work for that library. (k) "Network region" means a geographic subdivision of California within which libraries organize as a regional library network under this act for the purpose of resource sharing and mutual cooperation. Boundaries of network regions are determined on the basis of the following criteria: public library jurisdictional boundaries; commonality with boundaries of educational institutions; recognition of current transportation, marketing, and communication patterns; location of and access to library resources; adequacy of resources for resource sharing purposes; and population. (l) "Participating library" means the libraries of a public library jurisdiction that is a member of a regional library network or a library of an institution that is a member of a regional library network if that library decides to participate in a regional library network and meets the eligibility standards set forth in Section 18830. (m) "Patron referral" means the accepted procedure among libraries by which onsite services are made available in an appropriate format to people who would otherwise not be able to utilize them. (n) "Preservation" means the prevention or delay of deterioration of, and damage to, archival and library materials through the appropriate environmental controls or treatment, or both. For the purposes of this chapter, preservation encompasses conservation, digitization, and duplication of endangered materials in a different format. (o) "Primary clientele" means the people for whom the library has been established to provide services. It includes people served by different outlets of its jurisdiction or institution. A person may be a member of the primary clientele of more than one type of library. (p) "Public library" means a library, or two or more libraries, operated by a single public jurisdiction to meet the needs of its primary clientele and others by agreement. (q) "Public library jurisdiction" means a county, city and county, city or any district that is authorized by law to provide public library services and that operates a public library. (r) "Regional library council" means the administrative body over each regional library network, on which all members are represented. (s) "Regional library network" means a not-for-profit, cooperative organization established by the Library of California Board composed of libraries within the public library jurisdictions or institutions that choose to become members and agree to share resources and services with, or to provide resources and services to, or both, other members of the regional library network. (t) "Resources" are library materials that include, but are not limited to, print, nonprint materials and microformats; network resources such as software, hardware, and equipment; electronic and magnetic records; data bases; communication technology; facilities; and human expertise. (u) "School library" means a library that is established to support the curriculum-related research and instructional reading needs of pupils and teachers and provides the collections, related equipment, and instructional services of a staff for an elementary or secondary school. (v) "Special library" means a library that is maintained by a parent organization to serve a specialized clientele; or an independent library that may provide specialized materials or services, or both, in a specific subject to the public, a segment of the public, or other libraries. It is maintained by an association, business or corporation, government agency, research institution, learned society, not-for-profit organization, professional association, museum, industrial enterprise, chamber of commerce, or other organized group and is characterized by its depth of subject coverage. (w) "Statewide resource library group" means those libraries in California that have the most comprehensive or specialized resources, or both, in topics needed by people statewide or regionally and that agree to provide access to their resources to all members of all regional library networks. (x) "State board" means the Library of California Board. (y) "Type of library" means academic, public, school, or special library. (z) "Underserved" means any population segment with service needs not adequately met by traditional library service patterns; including, but not limited to: children, disabled, economically displaced, ethnic and culturally diverse populations, geographically isolated, illiterate, institutionalized, non-English speaking, and young adults.